%0 Journal Article
%T Immune function and health outcomes in women with depression
%A Cherie Howk
%A Mary Bennett
%J BioPsychoSocial Medicine
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1751-0759-4-3
%X Depression is a biological, psychological, and social illness that affects roughly 15 million American adults in any given year. Depression costs billions of dollars in lost time, productivity, personnel replacement, medical care and, tragically, loss of life. The cost to women is disproportionally higher, with women representing about two-thirds of those affected [1]. In addition, at least one study demonstrated that women with depression have higher costs related to greater work absence than males with depression [2]. But is all of the morbidity from depression directly connected to the psychological aspects of the disease, or are people with depression actually more susceptible to physical illnesses?According to Psychoneuroimmunolgy (PNI) theory, the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system (PNS), endocrine system, and immune system are part of an intricate communication and feedback system. Any action that causes change or illness in one part of this system, such as the CNS, can potentially cause changes in the other parts of the PNI system, such as endocrine or immune systems. Evidence suggesting that psychological stressors such as depression can alter immunological functions and possibly increase susceptibility to physical disease has accumulated over the past several decades [3].While there have been several studies indicating that depression may cause changes in immune function, studies documenting immune changes and actual health outcomes are rare. Therefore, the clinical significance of immune changes in depression is largely unknown. In addition, while most studies have found decreased immune function, particular in severely depressed hospitalized men, this finding has not been consistently supported in studies of non hospitalized women or those with less severe depression.One early study of depression and immune function reported that persons with major depression actually may have increased numbers of NK cells in the blood, while other l
%U http://www.bpsmedicine.com/content/4/1/3