Treating some cancers, immune system diseases, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, however, there may be many side effects during the treatment, including anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, weight loss and so on. A new study in China found that patients with hepatitis C who had used interferon A but had no depressive symptoms during treatment, that is, people who were resistant to side effects, were less likely to suffer from depression in their later years. This research is like a vaccine for depression!
Professor Su (left), Institute of Neurology and Cognitive Science, China Medical University, Vice President of Psychiatric Research, Attending Physician, Sun, Faculty of Medicine, China Medical University, etc. (Photo courtesy of Annan Hospital) Research: Patients who are resistant to the side effects of interferon A are less likely to suffer from depression.
The research team is mainly composed of Sun, a student from the Department of Medicine of China Medical University. Under the guidance of Su, a professor at the Institute of Neurology and Cognitive Sciences of China Medical University, vice president of psychiatric research at Annan Hospital and attending physician, and in cooperation with Dr. Qiu, director of psychiatry at Taibei Guotai Hospital, she skillfully analyzed more than 70,000 cases of hepatitis C patients in the Taiwan Province Provincial Health Insurance Database, and found that patients who were resistant to the mental side effects of interferon-α therapy were followed up 12 cases. This study hints at the bold conclusion of "vaccination" for depression, and the research results have been published in the internationally renowned journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
On the one hand, Professor Su instructed Sun to do research and write papers, and even encouraged her to submit research reports to international conferences. As a result, she not only became the youngest speaker in the audience, but also won the Best Poster Award in the 9th International Symposium on Body-Mind Interface. Professor Su even introduced her to Emory University, which has the reputation of "Harvard in the South" in the United States, and joined the team research of Andrew H. Miller (he is the advisor of Carmine Pariante and the advisor of Professor Su's doctoral class), who is the world's number one in the theory of depression inflammation, and received rare scientific research training.
Sun said that Dr. Su pays attention to autonomous learning and hopes that students can think independently and find ways to solve difficulties. Only when we really meet the bottleneck will he point out the problem and guide the way out. It's really great to join the laboratory research. At present, the younger brothers and sisters of several undergraduate departments have also joined the interesting research work. Dr. Su simply responded: "As long as students have the courage to dream, I will try my best to help them realize their dreams."