Scientists Have Developed Blood Test to Measure Anxiety: What We Know

A blood test can tell the risk of developing anxiety, its severity, and the best course of treatment available.

A blood test can now determine the risk of developing anxiety, its current severity.

(Photo: FIT)

A blood test can now determine the risk of developing anxiety, its current severity, and the best possible course of treatment for a person.

The big point: A test based on biomarkers linked to anxiety has been formulated by researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine. This can predict the likelihood of increased anxiety in the future, and the influence of variations in hormone levels on the experienced level of anxiety.

But... The test is not designed to diagnose anxiety, but it can help measure someone’s anxiety levels and even determine the risk of determining the same.

How does it work: Alexander Niculescu, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine told VeryWellHealth, that the test is like a glucose test for diabetes.

"Because both tests give healthcare providers objective information to help make clinical assessments," he said.

In the report published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, Niculescu and his team identified 19 biomarkers that could track and predict anxiety.

"All of the biomarkers have medications associated with them," Niculescu said, so that treatments can be assigned based on which biomarkers are identified.

What was said:

"The current approach is to talk to people about how they feel to see if they could be on medications, but some medications can be addictive and create more problems."

Alexander Niculescu

"This is something that could be a panel test as part of a patient's regular wellness visits to evaluate their mental health over time and prevent any future distress," says Niculescu.