Chronic depression and inflammation

There’s a strong case to be made that clinical depression could be linked to inflammation in the brain, especially when it comes to patients who don’t respond to available antidepressant treatments. And that’s a lot of people. It is estimated that around 16 million adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with major depressive disorder, which doesn’t even take into consideration people suffering from seasonal depression or postpartum depression. Of these 16 million people diagnosed with major depression disorder, upwards of 60% of them are not responsive to available treatments. If this is you reading this, or perhaps you're a practitioner whose patient is not responding to meds, consider looking at inflammation instead of the mood disorder itself. Here’s why…

Studies have shown that treatment-resistant patients typically have higher inflammatory markers, like CRP levels, in their blood work at baseline testing than the patients who are responsive to meds. CRP levels are pretty run of the mill when it comes to routine lab work, so most people should have access to these numbers. If your CRP is high, work on the inflammation. 

Inflammation isn’t the only thing that contributes to a risk of depression. Excessive stress as well as having a difficult childhood both increase your chances. However, your fight or flight response, also known as your stress response, physiologically creates a cascade of inflammation throughout your body. Studies have also linked difficult childhoods to a heightened or more sensitive fight or flight response, which further strengthens the connection of inflammation to depression. The problem worsens though when you consider that increased inflammation in the brain leads to an increased sensitivity to stress, which can lead to a stress and inflammation feedback loop, resulting in chronic inflammatory issues and depression. 

If you have or know someone with non-responsive depression, please consider a low inflammatory lifestyle as a way of becoming healthier. Participate in activities that help with stress levels, like meditation, counseling, quality time with a good friend and exercise. Also, consider eating a high nutrient/low inflammation diet. More on that in the next post…

References

Krishnan V, Nestler EJ (2008). The molecular neurobiology of depression. Nature 455: 894–902.

O'Brien, S.M., Scully, P., Fitzgerald, P., Scott, L.V., Dinan, T.G., 2007a. Plasma cytokine profiles in depressed patients who fail to respond to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor therapy. J. Psychiatr. Res. 41, 326e331.