Depression can make us physically older by speeding up the ageing process in our cells, according to a study.
Josine Verhoeven from the VU University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, along with colleagues from the US, recruited 2,407 people to take part in the study. More than one third of the volunteers were currently depressed, a third had experienced major depression in the past and the rest had never been depressed.
People who were or had been depressed had much shorter telomeres than those who had never experienced depression. This difference was apparent even after lifestyle differences, such as heavy drinking and smoking, were taken into account.
Furthermore, the most severely and chronically depressed patients had the shortest telomeres.
Read the full, original story here: Depression ‘makes us biologically older’
Additional Resources:
- “Can Depression Change Your DNA?,” PsychCentral
- “Genes predispose some people to focus on the negative,” Cornell Chronicle
- “Never mind Botox and facelifts, looking young begins on the inside,” DailyMirror
