Scientists find clue to
clinical depression in
hormone test on boys

Boys with a combination of depressive symptoms and raised levels of cortisol were up to 14 times more likely to be affected than those with neither trait, scientists found.

Raised levels of cortisol could help individuals most at risk of serious depression to get earlier treatment,say researcher.

“Depression is a terrible illness that will affect as many as 10 million people in the UK at some point in their lives,” said Professor Ian Goodyer, from Cambridge University.

“Through our research, we now have a very real way of identifying those teenage boys most likely to develop clinical depression. This will help us strategically target preventions and interventions at these individuals and hopefully help reduce their risk of serious episodes of depression and their consequences in adult life.”

The scientists measured cortisol levels in the saliva of almost 2,000 young people aged 12 to 19. Rates of clinical depression and other psychiatric disorders in the group were recorded between 12 months and three years later.

Boys with raised levels of cortisol in the morning and pronounced symptoms of depression were 14 times more likely to develop serious depressive illness.

The trend was much weaker for girls, suggesting gender differences in the way depression develops.

Dr John Williams, head of neuroscience and mental health at the Wellcome Trust, which funded the study, said: “Progress in identifying biological markers for depression has been frustratingly slow, but now we finally have a biomarker for clinical depression.”