Posted by SLS on July 4, 2009, at 10:32:28
In reply to Re: Going back to old-school - lithium., posted by linkadge on July 4, 2009, at 7:42:42
Hi Linkadge.
Thanks for giving the example of using a drug (dexamethasone) to diagnose a disease (Cushings). You pretty much proved my point. I tested positive for the DST very early in my history. It would be interesting to see where I'm at now. I don't know if DST non-suppression is a state-specific or trait specific phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is not specific enough to be of much value if one would use it to attempt to diagnose all of the subtypes of depression. My guess is that it is more selective for depressions with anergia and psychomotor retardation than it is for the more atypical types. I don't know if DST non-suppressors respond better to certain drugs than suppressors. I don't recall coming across any studies of this. If there are any, they were probably performed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
There is really too much to cover here, and it would take quite a bit of work to treat this important issue thoroughly. I don't really have the energy to do that right now. Maybe we can revisit this another time.
You did a nice job with your last post.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:904699
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090630/msgs/904919.html