Biomarkers for Affective Disorders

摘要

A study by the World Health Organization has found that diseases of the central nervous system are affecting a significant portion of the population and are amongst the leading causes of death in Western societies. Although great advances have been made in our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological diseases, significant gaps remain in our knowledge about their ultimate causes. A major problem in the area of affective diseases is the fact that current diagnosis is mainly based on categorizing the signs and symptoms of the syndrome, which limits the ability to reliably identify biological causes and develop specific treatments. A major goal in the area of affective disorders is therefore the identification of markers that can categorize subsets of subjects in a consistent manner.