Posted by bill ll on June 18, 2004, at 21:25:22
In reply to is there a way to measure serotonin levels?, posted by tampagirl70 on June 15, 2004, at 15:33:22
Docs have toyed with the idea. But so far, there is no practicle test for it. There are also many different types of serotonin.
Another complication is that scientists don't know how antidepressants work. For example, although SSRI's do in fact have an effect on serotonin, many scientists now think that this is not what causes the anti-depressant effect.
There is some evidence that people who have developed depression late in life have a smaller than normal area of the brain called the hippocampus. Antidepressant use increases the size of this area to make it more normal. But people with long term depression from childhood do not seem to have a smaller hippocampus.
Maybe one day we will find out what causes depression and how drugs work. Then there will probably be some kind of reliable test.
poster:bill ll
thread:356967
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040614/msgs/357991.html