Durham, NC, United States (AHN) – New research suggests long-term, untreated emotional distress and depression leads to inflammation in the body associated with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Scientists have long debated whether the opposite might be true – that chronic inflammation may cause depression and emotional problems.
Duke University Medical Center researchers tested a large sample of adolescent and young adult volunteers. The participants were followed into early adulthood, and both their levels of inflammation blood markers, known as C-reactive protein (CRP), and depressive symptoms or episodes were monitored for changes over time.
What they found was long-term emotional distress, beginning early in life, may lay the foundation for serious health problems later on.
“Our results support a pathway from childhood depression to increased levels of CRP, even after accounting for other health-related behaviors that are known to influence inflammation. We found no support for the pathway from CRP to increased risk for depression,” the researchers said in a statement.
A full report on the study is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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