Study reveals a link between obesity, depression and inflammation

In the past few years, there has been a drastic surge in the rates of depression and obesity, with each posing a major health concern world over. While there has always been a known association between depression and obesity, what wasn’t known was that overweight people with depression have higher levels of inflammation.

New research from King’s College London reveals that overweight people with depression are 2.4 times more likely to have clinically elevated levels of inflammation. These people have an even higher risk of developing other serious medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and metabolic disorders. This indicates that depression significantly aggravated inflammation, way more than the expected effect of excess weight gain.

The study, published in Psychological Medicine, has pressed upon the urgent need of developing new medical interventions to reduce inflammation in clinically vulnerable patients with depression.

It was established that chronic inflammation was the key link in the vicious cycle between depressive symptoms and weight gain. Treating inflammation with medical therapies could reverse this cycle. Reduced inflammation could help promote a better lifestyle with regular exercise, healthy eating and associated weight loss.