New findings: Depression may be due to an overactive immune system

New research shows an intimate relationship between depression and the body's inflammatory response. Finding this link opens up new treatments for one of the most common forms of mental illness and affects more than 350 million people worldwide.

Physical causes of depression

Current treatments for depression are primarily focused on brain chemicals like serotonin, but scientists think that the whole body inflammation (occurs when the immune system is overactive) is new. is the root cause of this problem.

Researchers claim widespread inflammation can create feelings of unhappiness, despair and fatigue. This can also be a symptom that many sick people have experienced: a sense of spirit rushing down the slope because their immune system is busy fighting infection or viruses. If this is true, depression can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.

For people with chronic depression, it is possible that their immune system is overactive and unable to "stop" after being sick or injured, causing symptoms to persist.

A study of body development, including scientific papers and clinical trial results, has shown that the link between the treatment of inflammation can alleviate depression.

Depression is a physical disease.(Photo: Internet).

At the end of July 2017, researchers at Stanford University said they could create a laboratory diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome like ME (a pathological cause fatigue at various and prolonged levels, accompanied by many other physical or psychological symptoms) and CFS (fatigue, drowsiness that lasts for at least 6 months without decreasing when resting and Not related to other fatigue-causing diseases such as cardiovascular disease, thyroid disease.

Accompanying research is the treatment that is thought to be the first to appear in the world. This therapy has been confirmed and built before people find a link between ME / CFS and inflammation.

In October 2016, a study of next-generation anti-inflammatory drugs (often used to treat autoimmune disease) showed a clear link between inflammation and depression.

Research shows that about a third of people with depression have cytokine levels - a protein that plays an important role in the body's inflammatory response, much higher than normal. This substance controls the immune system's reactions.

This can create inflammation in their brains. Research also reveals that people with "active" immune systems tend to develop depression.

Immune nervous system

Speaking at London's Annual Medical Science Forum, Professor Ed Bullmore - Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University, said: "It is clear that inflammation can cause depression. The relationship of Mood changes show a strong connection between inflammation and depressive symptoms. "

Professor Ed Bullmore also predicts that these findings will soon open a new area for nervous system immunity.

Body and mind are closely connected.(Photo: Internet).

"However, the question here is whether inflammation causes depression or vice versa, or is this just a coincidence? In experimental medicine studies, if you treat an individual. healthy with anti-inflammatory drugs, like interferon, a significant proportion of these people will be depressed, so we think there must be solid evidence before applying this study to reality. " Professor Ed Bullmore added.

This study opens hope to develop more effective treatments for depression and these therapies do not last a lifetime.

Another benefit of research is that it can change people's understanding of the relationship between body and soul. Socially, considering depression as a pathological condition with a clear cause can reduce stigma for people with mental illness.