By Shankar Vedantam
A top independent advisory panel today recommended that doctors begin routinely screening all patients for depression, saying that:
America's primary care doctors are missing and mistreating more than half of all cases of the common mental disorder.
Asking all patients who walk into offices for tests, physicals and appointments two simple questions about whether they have experienced some of the warning signs of depression can swiftly begin to identify 90 percent of people who suffer from major depression, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The panel is a highly influential group of scientists that sets widely followed standards on topics ranging from prostate cancer screenings to mammograms.
The recommendation is the latest manifestation of the growing recognition that depression is one of the most common -- and most commonly undiagnosed and untreated -- chronic illnesses. About 19 million American adults suffer from depression, and estimates suggest that as many as two-thirds do not get treatment. Read more...
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