Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Testing”
Depression is a debilitating mental health condition that affects millions of people worldwide. While there are a variety of effective treatments available, many patients do not respond to the first antidepressant they are prescribed. This can lead to frustration, discouragement, and even worsening symptoms. A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) suggests that genetic testing could …
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings, from manic highs to depressive lows. It can be a difficult condition to diagnose, as the symptoms can overlap with other conditions, such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, etcetera. A new study from the University of Cambridge suggests that some day a blood test could help to diagnose bipolar …
There are many reasons why thyroid status is important in a clinic treating people with mood disorders. For one thing, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can mimic some of the symptoms of mood disorders. For another, lithium, a medication we often prescribe, is associated with hypothyroidism in a significant minority of patients taking the medicine. One of the questions we wrestle with …
We are happy to report that at least one of the services that we use for genetic testing, as part of our comprehensive evaluation for patients who had trouble finding an appropriate medication, is modifying the procedure for their tests so that we can order the test online and the test kit will be shipped directly to your home. Genomind …
Inflammation and C Reactive Protein Inflammation is often seen in people with depression. And there is evidence to suggest that it predicts treatment response. The most widely accepted standard test to measure inflammation is the C-reactive protein, or CRP. This is a protein that is produced by the liver in inflammatory states. The American Heart Association and the Centers for …
Finger stick lab tests have the potential to significantly improve the quality of the care at Gateway Psychiatric. Regular monitoring of labs are an important part of good care for many of our patients, but some find it difficult to get labs done on time. A new technology from clinical laboratory provider OpAns may allow us to perform many of …
Predicting lithium response with brain imaging may be an option in the future if the preliminary results of a study published in 2017 are confirmed. Researchers from the University of Cincinnati used three tools to create a program that was remarkably successful at predicting which bipolar patients would respond to lithium. 20 first onset bipolar patients who received adequate trials …
About a year ago we reviewed the data on the use of genetic tests for antidepressants as well as other medications and identified three pharmacogenetic panels that seem to have research support: Genecept by Genomind, Genesight, and CNS Dose. Of these three we have been using Genecept and Genesight with some success but now we are happy to add to …
Is there a role for functional brain imaging in depression? Many people seeking treatment are interested in the notion that the brain imaging, particularly imaging that looks at neural activity, might be useful in guiding treatment. Up until the last couple of years the answer to this question has always been that the role is primarily restricted to research settings …
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