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The link between inflammation and
depression is increasingly gaining credence in the world of scientific research
as well as with our own experience, and observations of others. Here’s my interpretation
of what the evidence says.
Contact us at Coffs Psychology & Neurotherapy if you want to break the cycle
and start “doing” better.
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This article from Psychology Today (see here
for original source) is a sample of the recently published literature.
How
Untreated Depression Changes the Brain Over Time
A new study finds that long-term depression
may have neurodegenerative effects.
Posted Apr 06, 2018
Years of untreated depression may lead to
neurodegenerative levels of brain inflammation. That’s according to a
first-of-its-kind study showing evidence of lasting biological changes in the brain
for those suffering with depression for more than a decade.
The study findings are from the same
research team that originally identified a link between brain inflammation and
depression. Along with subsequent research, the findings have started to change
thinking about depression treatments. Evidence is increasingly pointing to the
possibility that in addition to being a biological disorder with immediate
implications, over time depression may also alter the brain in ways requiring different
forms of treatment than what's currently available.
This was a relatively small study of 80
participants; 25 had untreated depression for more than 10 years, 25 for less
than 10 years, and 30 had never been diagnosed. All were evaluated with positron
emission tomography scans (PET scans) to locate a specific type of protein that
results from the brain’s inflammatory response to injury or illness. Throughout
the body, the brain included, the right amount of inflammation protects us from
disease and repairs us when we’re injured. But too much inflammation leads to
chronic illness, including heart disease and potentially neurodegenerative
diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
If long-term depression results in more
inflammation, the researchers expected to find more of the protein in the
brains of those who’d suffered from untreated depression the longest. And
that’s exactly what they found, with higher levels in a handful of brain areas
including the prefrontal cortex, the brain area central to reasoning and other
“executive” functions thought to be compromised by disorders like depression.
If the results hold up (via more research
with more participants) this will prove to be an important finding adding
evidence to the argument that depression shares similarities with degenerative
disorders like Alzheimer’s, changing the brain in ways research-to-date hasn’t
fully grasped.
"Greater inflammation in the brain is
a common response with degenerative brain diseases as they progress, such as
with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," said senior study
author Dr. Jeff Meyer of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) at
the University of Toronto.
These findings build on a study published in 2016 showing that patients with depression had higher
levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP), another biological marker of inflammation
throughout the body, than those not suffering from the disorder. That was an
observational study looking for a link between depression and inflammation
(correlation not causation), but the results were significant. After adjusting
for several factors, those with depression had CRP levels more than 30% higher
than those without depression.
What the research seems to be collectively indicating is that we may need to change our thinking about depression and its effects. The evidence affirms that depression truly is a biologically based disorder of the brain, and left unchecked it may run a degenerative course that damages brain tissue in ways similar to other neurodegenerative diseases. All of this places greater emphasis on the need to develop more effective treatments and, as urgently, work toward removing the stigma from those suffering.
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