A new research has revealed that depression is a form of illness caused by inflammation initiated by the body’s immune system.
Focusing on this point, George Slavich, a clinical psychologist from the University of California, mentioned that even though depression is a psychiatric problem, it is also equally related to biology and physical health.
Researchers of the study pointed that, cytokines—a class of proteins—are responsible for initiation of the inflammation process in the human body. The inflammation process causes illness in the body.
During depression, both cytokines and inflammation are known to rapidly increase, and then drop off when the signs and symptoms disappear in people with bipolar. Depression is also observed in healthy people when a vaccine is given that leads to a spike in inflammation.
Turhan Canli of Stony Brook University in New York believes infection is the main causative agent behind depression. Hence to an extent, depression can be branded as an infectious problem, though it is not contagious.
