
First serotonin neurons made from human stem cells (2015) - snake117
http://news.wisc.edu/first-serotonin-neurons-made-from-human-stem-cells/
======
d33
> Because the neurons can be generated from induced pluripotent stem cells,
> which can be produced from a patient’s skin cells, “these could be useful
> for finding treatments for psychiatric disorders like depression, where we
> often see quite variable responses to drugs,” says Lu. “By identifying
> individual differences, this could be a step toward personalized medicine.

Do we really need that much personalized medicine? My first thought is that
it's going to drive prices up A LOT.

~~~
DanBC
(Your downvote seemed unfair, so I upvoted you)

Depression can be a fatal illness. In the UK suicide is the leading cause of
death in men aged between 15 and 49; it's a significant cause of death for all
adults. Not all those people have a diagnosis from a doctor, but it's likely
that many of them have depression.

There are wide variations in responses to SSRI medications. At the moment it's
hard to know whether someone is going to respond to eg mirtazipine unless we
actually give it to them.

SSRIs take a few weeks to start working; the have a range of side effects that
tend to be worst in those first few weeks; they take a while to "wash out"
when you stop taking them; they have discontinuation effects that can be
really unpleasant for some people; and there's increased risk of death by
suicide during these tapers up and down.

Personalised medicine would make some difference here in finding medication
that's more likely to be effective.

(For clarity, I believe that most people with mild to moderate depression need
a talking therapy and help to change lifestyle, with meds on top if needed).

~~~
EasyTiger_
It blows my mind that accepted treatment for depression actually can make
people more suicidal. But we can't give them anything that might make them
feel good oh no, we can't have that

~~~
temp122616
Are you implying that there's a conspiracy not to help people feel better?

Also, DanBC's point is accurate - for people with mild/moderate depression,
talk therapy is as effective as pharmaceutical therapy. Thus, we already do
have treatments that do not increase suicidal ideation.

------
amelius
How can these neurons be placed at the location where they are needed?

------
un0
How do this guys connect produced neurons to the cardiovascular system? =)

