TOPLINE:

A large UK Biobank (UKB) cohort study revealed that depression was significantly associated with an increased risk for six major inflammation-related physical health conditions, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), peripheral arterial disease (PAD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and inflammatory arthritis and related conditions (IA). However, after full adjustment for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and the number of baseline physical conditions, the association persisted only for PD.

METHODOLOGY:

• The analysis included 172,556 UKB participants with continuous primary care records, of whom 17.8% had depression at baseline, with 168,641 participants included in the final analysis.
• Researchers identified depression through primary care records, hospital records, and a self-reported history at the UKB baseline assessment, with a median follow-up duration of 7.1 years.
• The outcome was the incidence of inflammation-related conditions (CHD, PAD, T2D, IBD, PD, and IA) in patients with vs without depression, adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and the number of baseline comorbidities.

TAKEAWAY:

• The initial age- and sex-adjusted analysis revealed that depression was associated with increased hazards across all conditions, including CHD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.36; 95% CI, 1.28-1.44), PAD (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.37-1.83), and T2D (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.34-1.52).
• Additional inflammatory conditions such as IBD (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.10-1.63), PD (HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.25-1.86), and IA (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.25-1.50) showed similar associations.
• After adjusting for lifestyle factors and the number of baseline comorbidities, only the association with PD remained significant (HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.18-1.79).

IN PRACTICE:

"[The study] findings underscore the need for lifestyle interventions among individuals with depression to mitigate risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases and other physical health conditions. Health practitioners should prioritize screening for risk factors of physical illnesses in people with depression, with particular attention to conditions with potential inflammatory causes," the authors wrote. "A more integrated approach to patient care combining mental health evaluations with proactive management of physical health risks could improve outcomes and promote holistic well-being," they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Shuvajit Saha, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was published online on October 02, 2025, in BMC Psychiatry.

LIMITATIONS:

This study was restricted by missing data; the lack of accounting for C-reactive protein, a key marker of chronic inflammation; and limited ethnic diversity of the study population, which may have affected the generalisability of the findings.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the Medical Research Council/National Institute for Health and Care Research. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.