May 2, 2024

Why Do Men and Women Experience Depression Differently? New Research Sheds Light

This info can be beneficial to identify future sex-specific treatments for anxiety.
” This is the very first research study to explain sex-specific hereditary variants associated with anxiety, which is an extremely common illness in both females and males. These findings are important to inform the advancement of particular treatments that will benefit both guys and ladies while representing their differences,” states Dr. Patricia Pelufo Silveira, lead author and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry.
” In the center, the presentation of depression is extremely various for males and females, in addition to their response to treatment, however we have very little understanding of why this takes place at the moment.”
Recommendation: “A sex-specific genome-wide association study of depression phenotypes in UK Biobank” by Patrícia Pelufo Silveira, Irina Pokhvisneva, David M. Howard and Michael J. Meaney, 7 February 2023, Molecular Psychiatry.DOI: 10.1038/ s41380-023-01960-0.

Anxiety is a devastating psychological health disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 264 million individuals of all ages experience depression, making it the leading reason for impairment worldwide. Identified by relentless feelings of unhappiness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in everyday activities, depression can severely affect ones lifestyle and require expert intervention and support.
Depression is typically discovered to be more widespread in women compared to men, with women being two times as most likely to be identified. A current gender-based study by McGill University found that there are distinctions in between male and female genes and how they connect to anxiety.
The research study, which included over 270,000 participants, revealed that prediction approaches that take into account gender specificity are more precise in determining an individuals genetic predisposition to anxiety than those that do not consider gender. The scientists identified 11 sections of DNA related to depression in ladies, and only a single area in men.
They likewise found that anxiety was specifically linked to metabolic illness in women, an essential element to consider when treating women with depression. In spite of the biological processes associated with depression being comparable in males and females, scientists found that various genes were involved for each sex.