New Hope in Depression Treatment

Currently, the treatment of depression is mainly based on a lengthy process, causing patients to spend years finding the right medication.

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting more than 330 million people worldwide . (Source: Pharmacity.vn)

In Israel, after 23 months of continuous conflict, the need for effective mental health treatment is more urgent than ever.

The blood test, developed by founders Dr. Talia Cohen Solal and Dr. Daphna Laifenfeld of health tech startup NeuroKaire, opens the door to personalized treatment for mental disorders.

Based on the test results, the doctor can determine the most appropriate treatment plan for each patient.

“For a long time, patients with clinical depression have had to go through a grueling treatment process before finding an effective medication,” Dr. Cohen Solal said. “Only about one-third of patients improve with treatment, while the remaining two-thirds have had to change medications or dosages multiple times.”

The average drug trial now takes 12 to 18 months, she said. “We’ve shortened that process to two months.”

The new test, called BrightKaire, uses stem cells taken from a patient's blood to create neurons in the frontal region of the brain – the area most commonly associated with psychiatric disorders.

These cells were then tested for response to 70 different antidepressants, helping to determine which drug or treatment regimen would be most effective for each individual.

AI-powered analytics uses genetic data, medical history and microscopic images of neurons to generate detailed reports, including the effectiveness of each drug and the potential for side effects.

“Depression is a decrease in brain connectivity, which often manifests as a lack of motivation,” explains Dr. Cohen Solal. “With our ‘brain in a petri dish’ platform, we can directly observe the level of connectivity between neurons after drug exposure and turn that data into a quantitative index.”

“Our technology not only shows whether the drug gets into the brain, but also what the drug actually does in the brain,” she stressed.

BrightKaire technology has just received a laboratory-developed test (LDT) license from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, marking an important step forward: this is the first clinical test based on neurons grown from blood.

Dr. Cohen Solal said that about 100 psychiatrists are currently using this test to prescribe treatment. However, according to Professor Mark Weiser, Head of Psychiatry at Sheba Medical Center, this technology still needs to be verified through large-scale clinical trials.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ky-vong-moi-trong-dieu-tri-tram-cam-328368.html