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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: Gene May Show who is Vulnerable to Depression
Aired July 18, 2003 - 07:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Could the blues be in your genes? New research may explain why some people bounce back from tragedy while others succumb to deep depression.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us this morning.
Hey, nice to see you.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Everyone cries sometimes, everyone gets hurt sometimes, but not everyone gets depressed. And why is that? Do people just need to buck up? Or is it more profound than that? Could it be in your genes, as you say?
Well, that's exactly the subject of a new research study out of the "Journal of Science," which is a very sciency (ph) journal, a very basic science sort of journal. Looking at the genetic structure from this human genome project that we've heard so much about, actually finding 19 areas of the human genome that are responsible in some way for mood, specifically depression.
But even more importantly than that, they're finding that people have different types of these genes. And take a look at these numbers here. If you have two of the short type of genes, you're going to have a much more likely chance of getting depressed after a life event, such as a divorce, the loss of a loved one, something like that. Forty-three percent of those people had depression.
Take a look at the bottom number. If you have two long genes, the protective genes, only 17 percent. If you got one short and one long from your mom and your dad, you fell right in the middle, 33 percent, a pretty remarkable number that really, really fits into this protective gene theory about depression.
What do you do with this information? You obviously can't screen the whole country, but I think it does provide an answer to some extent as to why some people bounce back after a major life event.
O'BRIEN: The information coming from the human genome project is just fascinating, isn't it?
GUPTA: Really. Looking at cancers, looking at depression, all sorts of things.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay, thanks so much. GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Depression>
Aired July 18, 2003 - 07:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Could the blues be in your genes? New research may explain why some people bounce back from tragedy while others succumb to deep depression.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us this morning.
Hey, nice to see you.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Everyone cries sometimes, everyone gets hurt sometimes, but not everyone gets depressed. And why is that? Do people just need to buck up? Or is it more profound than that? Could it be in your genes, as you say?
Well, that's exactly the subject of a new research study out of the "Journal of Science," which is a very sciency (ph) journal, a very basic science sort of journal. Looking at the genetic structure from this human genome project that we've heard so much about, actually finding 19 areas of the human genome that are responsible in some way for mood, specifically depression.
But even more importantly than that, they're finding that people have different types of these genes. And take a look at these numbers here. If you have two of the short type of genes, you're going to have a much more likely chance of getting depressed after a life event, such as a divorce, the loss of a loved one, something like that. Forty-three percent of those people had depression.
Take a look at the bottom number. If you have two long genes, the protective genes, only 17 percent. If you got one short and one long from your mom and your dad, you fell right in the middle, 33 percent, a pretty remarkable number that really, really fits into this protective gene theory about depression.
What do you do with this information? You obviously can't screen the whole country, but I think it does provide an answer to some extent as to why some people bounce back after a major life event.
O'BRIEN: The information coming from the human genome project is just fascinating, isn't it?
GUPTA: Really. Looking at cancers, looking at depression, all sorts of things.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay, thanks so much. GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Depression>
