Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Oh, you can be sure the pharmas are salivating over this...  a simple way to find kids who "need" pre-emptive antidepressant therapy...  cha ching!

Saliva test may identify boys at greatest risk of depression

Ian Goodyer of the Cambridge University's Department of Psychiatry said teenage boys with symptoms of depression and raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol were up to 14 times more likely to develop major depression than those without these traits.
...The researcher team collected samples of saliva from hundreds of teenagers and measured the levels of cortisol, as well as self-reported information on symptoms of depression. The researchers divide the data of the teenagers into one of four groups depending on their cortisol levels and symptoms of depression.
It has been known since 1958 that infection and bacteremia raise cortisol levels.  They should have checked those kids mouths and blood as soon as they found high levels.   Not wait for them to get clinically depressed...   sheesh.