\n Women were found to have almost twice as many genetic markers associated with depression compared to men.\n <\/p>\n
Women are genetically more susceptible to clinical depression than men, according to a study by Australian researchers that could change the way the disorder is treated.<\/p>\n
Described as one of the largest studies of its kind, scientists analyzed the DNA of nearly 200,000 people with depression to identify common genetic \u201cmarkers,\u201d AFP reported.<\/p>\n
Women were found to have almost twice as many genetic markers associated with depression compared to men, according to the project led by the Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe genetic component of depression is stronger in women than in men,\u201d said researcher Jodie Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cExamining the shared and unique genetic factors in men and women gives us a clearer understanding of what causes depression \u2014 and opens the door to more personalized therapies,\u201d Thomas added.<\/p>\n
It has long been known that depression is more prevalent among women, but the biological reasons for this remain largely a mystery.<\/p>\n
Researchers identified around 13,000 genetic markers linked to depression in women, compared to 7,000 in men.<\/p>\n
Some of these genetic variations may influence biological pathways related to metabolism or hormone production.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found genetic differences that may help explain why women with depression more often exhibit metabolic symptoms, such as changes in weight or energy levels,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n
Researcher Brittany Mitchell added that the findings could lead to changes in how depression is treated in women.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil now, there has been insufficient consistent research to explain why depression affects men and women differently, including the potential role of genetics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is increasing recognition that much of the existing medication \u2014 as well as the studies on which it is based \u2014 has primarily focused on men or male participants,\u201d Mitchell added.<\/p>\n
Clinical depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is one of the most common mental health conditions worldwide.<\/p>\n
According to the World Health Organization, more than 300 million people globally suffer from depression.<\/p>\n
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. | BGNES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Women were found to have almost twice as many genetic markers associated with depression compared to men. Women…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-481692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115335954628423914","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}