Depression over the years changes the human brain
Seems like, depression over the years changes the brain in humans.
According to a research conducted by some scientists, brain alters after years
of persistent depression, suggesting the need to change how we think about
depression as it progresses.
The study, led by senior author, showed that people with longer periods of
untreated depression, lasting more than a decade, had significantly more brain
inflammation compared to those who had less than 10 years of untreated
depression.
In an earlier study, the team discovered the first definitive evidence of
inflammation in the brain in clinical depression.
This study provides the first biological evidence for large brain changes in
long-lasting depression, suggesting that it is a different stage of illness
that needs different therapeutics - the same perspective taken for early and
later stages of Alzheimer's disease, he said.
"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 a Dr.
While depression is not considered a degenerative brain disease, the change in inflammation shows that, for those in whom
depression persists, it may be progressive and not a static condition.
Yet currently, said the Dr., regardless of how
long a person has been ill, the major depressive disorder is mainly treated
with the same approach. Some people may have a couple of episodes of depression
over a few years.
Others may have persistent episodes over a
decade with worsening symptoms, and increasing difficulty going to work or
carrying out routine activities.
In the study, brain inflammation was measured
using a type of brain imaging called positron emission tomography (PET).
The brain's immune cells, known as microglia,
are involved in the brain's normal inflammatory response to trauma or injury,
but too much inflammation is associated with other degenerative illnesses as
well as depression.
When microglia are activated, they make more
translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of inflammation that can be seen using
PET imaging.
The study involved 25 people with more than 10
years of depression, 25 with less than 10 years of illness, and 30 people with
no depression as a comparison group.
TSPO levels were about 30 percent higher in
different brain regions among those with long-lasting untreated depression,
compared to those with shorter periods of untreated depression. The group with
long-term depression also had higher TSPO levels than those with no depression.