Approximately 36,000 deaths are caused by suicide each year in the United States . What if a simple blood test could one day help prevent that from happening ? In a new small study , researchers were able to predict who had experienced suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide just by looking at their blood . The experimental test was over 80 % accurate . `` With a test like ours , we may be able to stem suicide rates by identifying those people and intervening early enough to head off a catastrophe , '' said the study 's lead author , Zachary Kaminsky , an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University 's School of Medicine . Kaminsky and his colleagues ran tests on samples of blood , looking for an increase of certain chemicals on a gene called SKA2 that seems to help the brain regulate stress . The gene 's instructions are carried out in a region of the brain that controls negative thoughts and impulsive behaviors . Scientists believe people with the abnormal version of the gene have more trouble shutting off the flood of hormones produced by their bodies in response to stress . `` It 's good to be stressed if you 're crossing the street . You need to be ramped up . You need to be focused , '' Kaminsky said . `` But when you 're safely across the other side , you do n't want to stay in that mode . '' Since the chemicals were also consistently higher in the brains of people who have killed themselves , the Hopkins researchers think the chemicals may be linked to suicide . And these chemicals could , theoretically , be identified using a simple blood test . `` This kind of genetic screening is going to be one way forward to predict who is at high risk , '' said Dr. John Mann , a psychiatrist and neurochemist at Columbia University Medical Center . He was not involved in the study . Experts have to rely on simply asking people whether they 're feeling suicidal to assess suicide risk . `` If someone is really committed to committing suicide , they may choose to lie , '' Kaminsky said . But a blood test to gauge a person 's suicide risk is at least five to 10 years away from being readily available , he said . Jill Harkavy-Friedman , the vice president of research for the American Foundation for Suicide , is optimistic about the potential of identifying suicidal patients earlier . `` Just because you have a risk does n't mean you 're destined to kill yourself . It means the opposite , '' she said . `` If you know you have a risk , you can be having conversations with your doctor , your mental health professional , and your family and friends about how to prevent getting to the point of a suicide crisis . ''
In small studies , researchers accurately predict suicidal behavior and suicide attempts . Researchers looked for certain disorders linked to a gene called SKA2 . An abnormal version of this gene may cause people to react differently to stress .