The medical science is progressing day by day. In the present era, the scientists are cracking the unsolved mysteries of the diseases, which had been surrounding the human race from ages.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which is a psychiatric disorder, and runs from one generation to next, now, would be easier, objective and speedier to detect. Scientists at Cambridge University, London have been successful in locating an area in brain that is unable to kick-in people who suffer from the disorder. The same is true for those who are at risk of developing OCD.

The researchers have also found that detecting and measuring brain activity can also help the level of risks of developing the disorder in the people.

The scientists reported the latest discovery about the disease in the journal of science.

People, who suffer from OCD, project a weird behavior. It is characterized by reappearing thoughts, which the patient finds hard to suppress. The person who suffers from OCD also repeats an act again and again, as if it is a ritual. The former characteristic can be termed under ‘obsession’ like constant fear of contamination, while the latter can be categorized under ‘compulsion’, example-constantly washing of hands after a while.

The disease that is diagnosed by clinical interview and traits of progression has been found to affect at least 2-3 percent of population at some point of their lives.

The researchers undertook 14 people with OCD and their 12 immediate relatives, who did not have the disorder. They were then asked to complete a task which tested their decision making ability. Usually people with OSD have high difficulty to arrive at a decision.

The researchers then did the scanning of the brain of the volunteers and found that those who suffer from the disorder had an inactive lateral orbitofrontal cortex, a region which is vital for decision making and behavior.

The ones, who were free from the condition, displayed a normal functioning of brain activity.

Samuel Chamberlain, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, who led the study, said that this is the first of its kinds’ study which has been carried out on OCD. He further added that the findings of the study would help them to identify people who are at risk of developing the disorder much earlier and thus be provided with treatment even before the symptoms arise.

Currently, a drug named fluoxetine, which was introduced by U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and CO. in 1987 under the name of ‘Prozac’ for the treatment of OCD is widely available across the medicinal stores.