7 Blood Tests You Must Get If You Suffer From Depression

When people present with symptoms of depression, two treatments are most commonly recommended. These include psychological therapies (e.g., cognitive behaviour therapy) or antidepressant medication. These treatments are based on the theory that depression is caused by psychological factors (e.g., irrational beliefs, ineffective copings skills) or imbalances in brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Serotonin and dopamine are the most common neurotransmitters implicated in depression.

Unfortunately, for many people with depression, potential medical/physical causes of depression are often not investigated. Research confirms that depression is a complex disorder that can be caused by a large array of environmental, psychological, social, and physical factors. Below are 7 blood tests we recommend people should ask their doctor if they are suffering from depression:

1. Thyroid hormones

Tests for thyroid function are essential when people present with depression. Low levels of thyroid hormones can lead to low energy, poor concentration, reduced motivation/ drive, lowered sex drive, and weight changes. Interestingly, many of these symptoms also occur when people are depressed. Blood tests for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and the thyroid hormones, T4 and T3 can be easily ordered by your GP.

2. Iron studies

Iron is essential for energy and is a cofactor needed for the production of the feel-good neurotransmitter, dopamine. If you are low in iron you will not be able to produce adequate levels of dopamine.

3. Vitamin B12

While this blood test is often not that reliable (it can be affected by recent food or supplement intake), it is still probably worth doing. Vitamin B12 is needed to produce serotonin and dopamine, so it is crucial that we have healthy levels of this vitamin.

4. Vitamin D

This is the sunshine vitamin and low levels increase the risk of depression. Vitamin D has many roles in the body including helping our immune response. It is also required to produce serotonin.

5. Folate

This vitamin has many roles in the body and again is important to produce serotonin and dopamine. In fact, some studies show that having low levels of folic acid can make antidepressants work less effectively.

6. C-reactive protein (CRP)

This is a marker in blood associated with inflammation. Research confirms that people with depression have increased inflammation. This can be a problem as excess inflammation damages the brain and reduces the production of important mood-related neurotransmitters.

7. Homocysteine (fasting)

This blood test is rarely undertaken when someone is suffering from depression. Homocysteine is a marker of biochemical processes in the body known as methylation. Healthy methylation is essential to produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Interestingly, antidepressants increase levels of serotonin and dopamine but do nothing to fix the cause of low levels of these neurotransmitters. It could be from someone’s faulty methylation.

Treatment Options If Blood Tests Are Abnormal

There are several other biological/ nutritional tests that can be undertaken to help identify causes of depression, but these are the core ones we recommend first. If abnormalities are identified in any of these tests, then it is important that you take measures to correct them. These include:

• Correct thyroid hormone levels with thyroid medications and/or take natural supplements that have been shown to restore healthy thyroid hormone levels.
• Correct methylation problems (homocysteine test). This can be simply corrected through supplementation with B-vitamins. In particular vitamins B12, B6 and folic acid are essential to lower homocysteine levels and boost methylation.
• Restore iron levels. This can be achieved by increasing iron intake in the diet and supplementation with iron tablets.
• Correct vitamin B12, iron, folic acid and vitamin D levels. Again, dietary changes and supplementation may be required here. To increase Vitamin D, increasing exposure to sunshine is also important. Poor digestive health may also be a problem so this may also require treatment.
• Reduce inflammation (High CRP blood test). This can be achieved through several strategies. Eating healthy foods, avoiding foods you are intolerant to, reducing stress, treating inflammatory medical conditions, and engaging in regular exercise is important. Taking specific anti-inflammatory, natural supplements may also be helpful. These include curcumin (from the spice turmeric) and saffron. Both spices have anti-inflammatory properties. Saffron has solid research supporting its effectiveness in the treatment of depression.

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