Depression is very prominent in India. A study reported in WHO, revealed that around 6.5% of India’s population suffers from various mental disorders. So much so that, India has been termed as “the most depressed country in the world”. With China, USA, Brazil, and Indonesia following the lead when it comes to anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
Depression can occur in many ways for different people. For example, while some depressed people may have difficulty in sleeping, others might sleep a lot. Hence, it is important to keep tabs on early signs of depression. Let’s see some of the most common depression symptoms:
- Increased fatigue or lack of energy
- Troubles in concentrating or making decisions
- Loss of appetite or eating too much
- Feelings of guilt and hopelessness
- Physical aches and digestive problems
Is depression curable?
Although depression can be treated by alleviating the symptoms, it cannot be completely cured. Hence, it is very important for depression patients to keep tabs on the early warning signs and implement befitting medical treatments.Some of the best treatments of depression include self-care, attending regular psychotherapy sessions, taking prescribed medications, avoiding drugs and alcohol that interfere with medications, and so on.
Can Precision Medicine be the answer?
Healthcare is an ever-transforming industry, wherein, genomics has a crucial role to play. When demographics and population health data is combined with genomics, individual patient data, and real-world evidence on patient behaviour; they can use the power of Precision Medicine to analyse most effective techniques for specific patients.A form of medical care, Precision Medicine optimizes the efficiency or therapeutic benefit for specific group of patients by using genetic profiling. It is a rapidly growing development within the healthcare industry that acknowledges the differences in genes, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status of the patients.
Much data is now available that suggest the possibilities of depression linked with patient’s gender, age, lifestyle, genomics, etc. For instance, population-level data shows a direct relation between heart disease and depression. When combined with new diagnosis of heart diseases, this information could lead to proactive counselling that may prove helpful in treating various illnesses.Medical care managers can determine ways to care for such patients by gathering, analysing, and presenting the data in the form of a dashboard. It may also help reduce risks of developing depression and help them transform their lifestyle for better overall mental and physical health.
Likewise, various types of genes are linked to risks of developing depression, which highlight potential concerns for antidepressant reactions. In cases where patients have been through genome sequencing, the data can be used for determining causes of depression and its best possible medications. Care managers would also be able to analyse which depressants to avoid and what medications can reduce adverse reactions.
What’s in store for the future?
In the coming days, pharmaceutical companies would be able to leverage data and dashboards to utilize information about best medication practices. The care managers can further strengthen information and provide personalized medication guidance, so as to support patients for safe and effective use of medications to curb depression.
