A new blood test may determine suicide risk
As a new study determined a link between depression and cognitive decline, a separate study has suggested there may be a way to determine suicide risk from a blood test.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins University found that DNA could play a key role in determining someone's risk of suicide. The study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, found that the gene SKA2, which is involved in stress reaction, could predict suicide risk. The researchers conducted three experiments on brain samples from the deceased, and they conducted another three experiments using blood.
The Johns Hopkins team has previously studied postpartum depression risk factors, which they found were related to the body's level of the stress hormone cortisol. The new study found that people with less SKA2 had higher cortisol levels. In the study, researchers found that the brains of those who had died from suicide had less SKA2 than the brains of those who had died from other causes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The researchers were then able to predict suicide risk with "80 to 90 percent accuracy based on the severity of the risk," The Daily Beast reports. The doctors are now planning to test new samples from military soldiers.
"If we can identify who is at risk, we may be able to intervene in effective ways," Dr. Zachary Kaminsky, lead author of the study, told The Daily Beast. "Notably, we could identify individuals in military populations who are more vulnerable to stress. We know they're going to be experiencing stress when they go off to combat."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
The World War Two experiments that made D-Day possible
Under The Radar Scientists performed gruelling tests on themselves paving the way for the iconic invasion
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Is the Supreme Court about to criminalize homelessness?
Talking Points The court will decide if bans on outdoor camping are 'cruel and unusual'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Fall into the groove at these delightful record stores
The Week Recommends Each one strikes its own chord
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published