Researchers have been able to identify a specific genetic marker for OCD that could help scientists develop more useful drugs to deal with the disorder.

John Hopkins scientists conducted a genome-wide association study which scanned genomes in more than 1,400 people suffering from OCD. A large association with the disorder was discovered to be near a gene known as protein tyrosine phosphokinase (PTPRD). This gene has previously been shown in animals to be potentially associated with learning and memory.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a condition characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors as a result of high levels of anxiety. OCD is often disabling, and interferes with a person’s normal daily life. Many patients who suffer from the disorder are unable to leave their homes.

OCD affects approximately one to two percent of Americans, and is considered by the World Health Organization to be one of the most crippling medical conditions across the globe. Although antidepressants and behavioral therapy work for some patients with the disorder, they don’t work for everyone.

Study leader Gerald Nestadt, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of Johns Hopkins’ Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program, believes the findings of the study suggest that we may ultimately be able to discover new medication that can be more helpful for people suffering from OCD, considering current drugs are helpful only 60 to 70 percent of the time.

“OCD research has lagged behind other psychiatric disorders in terms of genetics,” Nestadt says. “We hope this interesting finding brings us closer to making better sense of it — and helps us find ways to treat it,” said Nestadt in a statement.

The findings of the study are published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.