Jul 31, 2014 06:07 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

A simple blood test may be able to predict a person's risk of attempting suicide, according to a recent study The Washington Post reported.

Researchers from John Hopkins University have discovered a genetic indicator of a person's vulnerability "to the effects of stress and anxiety and, therefore, the risk of suicidal thoughts or attempts." The findings could lead to the development of a future took of prevention to lower suicide rates.

"We have found a gene that we think could be really important for consistently identifying a range of behaviors" having to do with suicide, said Zachary Kaminsky, study researcher and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

For the study, the research team studied about 150 postmortem brain samples of healthy people and those with mental illness, including some who had committed suicide. They found that a genetic mutation, in a gene called SKA2, was more common among the people who committed suicide.

The researchers then tested blood samples from more than 300 participants to determine whether these genetic changes could predict a person's risk of having suicidal thoughts or attempting suicide.

They correctly identified 80 percent to 96 percent of people who experienced suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide, Live Science reported. The model was more accurate among people with a severe high risk for suicide.

Kaminsky noted that while the biomarker indicates a person's vulnerability to stress and anxiety, SKA2 does not make a person "destined to experience suicidal thoughts and could equally show a person's resilience," The Washington Post reported.

He said the genetic changes in SKA2 may be involved in shutting down the body's response to stress.

He likened the genetic changes to "faulty brakes on a car: Without stress, it's like having a parked car with bad brakes, but once stress occurs, having brakes that work is important, or else the car can get out of control," Live Science reported.

Their findings could lead to a blood test for suicide risk that could determine how closely a person needs to be monitored for suicide risk.

The findings were recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. 

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