{"id":10130,"date":"2018-05-14T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=10130"},"modified":"2018-05-04T19:49:46","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T23:49:46","slug":"genes-causing-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/05\/genes-causing-depression.html","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Genes Causing Depression?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mental-health-3337026_1280\"Mary suffers from depression and so did her mom. She now sees signs of depression in her young adult daughter.\u00a0When it comes to depression, we know that it tends to run in families. If your parents are depressed, your risk of depression is higher than someone without the family history. What we don’t quite\u00a0understand is why. Is it because there is a genetic predisposition or \u00a0because depressed parents impact their children\u00a0in such ways that depression is a learned response to coping? Perhaps\u00a0both of these statements\u00a0are true.<\/p>\n

For years, scientists have been looking for specific genes as markers of depression. This question of nature or nurture has been difficult to answer. A new scientific discovery\u00a0by the\u00a0Psychiatric Genomics Consortium published in the April 2018 of\u00a0Nature Genetics<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>provides new understanding\u00a0when it comes to the role of biology in producing depression.<\/p>\n

The study found 44 genes out of the 20,000 genes that comprise the human genome, which they believe are responsible for the transmission risk of depression. They did not find a single gene that causes depression. Rather they have pinpointed 44 genes that\u00a0put a person at biological risk. Since we all carry some number of genetic risk factors for depression, targeting the ones involved is helpful.<\/p>\n

These identified\u00a0genes also play a role in how the nervous system and immune system functions. For instance, when the immune system detects a threat, inflammation is its defensive response. We also\u00a0know that social stress (a threat) makes depression worse and activates an inflammation of the body. The production of inflammation under both real and perceived threats is important. We now think this inflammation can cause brain changes and turn on the mental symptoms of depression. If this is true, new treatments may be able to pinpoint inflammatory proteins coded by those depression risk genes. And stress would also need to be targeted for intervention.<\/p>\n

What this new discovery tells us is that both nurture and nature \u00a0(genetics and environment) are at work when it comes to\u00a0treating depression. This means we will be able to develop better and more targeted treatments to help those who suffer. Helping both a person’s biology and response to the environment remain key at treating depression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary suffers from depression and so did her mom. She now sees signs of depression in her young adult daughter.\u00a0When it comes to depression, we know that it tends to run in families. If your parents are depressed, your risk of depression is higher than someone without the family history. What we don’t quite\u00a0understand is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[4081,304,4206,4205],"class_list":["post-10130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-clinical-depression","tag-depression","tag-genetic-risk-of-depression","tag-nurture-or-nature"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Your Genes Causing Depression?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/05\/genes-causing-depression.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Your Genes Causing Depression?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mary suffers from depression and so did her mom. She now sees signs of depression in her young adult daughter.\u00a0When it comes to depression, we know that it tends to run in families. If your parents are depressed, your risk of depression is higher than someone without the family history. What we don’t quite\u00a0understand is…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/05\/genes-causing-depression.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-14T10:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-04T23:49:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2018\/05\/mental-health-3337026_1280-300x214.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Your Genes Causing Depression?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2018\/05\/genes-causing-depression.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Your Genes Causing Depression?","og_description":"Mary suffers from depression and so did her mom. She now sees signs of depression in her young adult daughter.\u00a0When it comes to depression, we know that it tends to run in families. If your parents are depressed, your risk of depression is higher than someone without the family history. 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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