Depression can delay physical development over 30%: Study

A new study has revealed that adults with depression could develop chronic conditions, such as osteoarthritis and hypertension, 30 per cent faster as compared to those with no history of the mental disorder. The scientists said treating depression should, therefore, involve methods that help manage both mental and physical health.

The mental disorder, marked by a persistent low mood, is known to heighten one’s chance of developing heart disease or diabetes, with previous studies having looked at a patient’s risk of developing a small number of illnesses, according to the authors.

 However, the study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, examined people with a history of depression for their risk of developing 69 physical conditions. Over 1.7 lakh people from the UK Biobank were followed for an average of about seven years.

The team noted that those with depression had an average of three physical conditions, hypertension being the most common, compared with an average of two in those without.

Over the study period, the participants with a history of depression developed an average of 0.2 additional physical conditions a year, while those without accrued 0.16.

“The most common new conditions were osteoarthritis (15.7 per cent of those with depression at baseline vs 12.5 per cent without), hypertension (12.9 per cent vs 12 per cent) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (13.8 per cent vs 9.6 per cent),” the authors wrote.