This test provides objective information about a person’s current mental state, future risk, and the appropriate treatment options, in addition to other approaches to treating anxiety, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or lifestyle changes.

The use of blood tests for diagnosing physical ailments is common, but did you know that blood tests can now also be used to determine mental health?

A blood test has been successfully developed by the researchers to identify an individual’s risk for anxiety, the level of anxiety they are now experiencing, and the therapies that are most likely to be effective in treating their anxiety.

The research based on biomarkers was performed by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the results were recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group.

The blood tests are currently being developed for wider use by physicians from Indianapolis-based startup MindX Sciences.

mental health can show up in a blood test

“Many people are suffering from anxiety, which can be very disabling and interfere with daily life,” said Alexander Niculescu, Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Neuroscience at Indiana University School of Medicine. “The current approach is to talk to people about how they feel, to see if they could be on medications, but some medications can be addictive and create more problems. We wanted to see if our approach to identifying blood biomarkers could help us match people to existing medications that will work better and could be a non-addictive choice.”

mental health

Niculescu said the test can help evaluate a person’s risk of developing higher levels of anxiety in the future, as well as how other factors such as hormonal changes might impact their anxiety.

“There are people who have anxiety and it is not properly diagnosed. Then they have panic attacks, but think they’re having a heart attack and end up in the ER with all sorts of physical symptoms,” Niculescu said. “If we can know that earlier, then we can hopefully avoid this pain and suffering and treat them earlier with something that matches their profile.”

Even though the test does not diagnose anxiety, it provides a comprehensive view of a patient’s mental health and risk of future mental health concerns.

“This is something that could be a panel test as part of a patient’s regular wellness visits to evaluate their mental health over time and prevent any future distress,” Niculescu said. “Prevention is better in the long run, so our goal is to be able to provide a comprehensive report for patients and their physicians using simply one tube of blood.”

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