Is Depression An Inflammatory Condition?

A friend sent me this article recently and it really caught my attention. The title of the article is “Depression is a physical illness which could be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, scientists suggest.” There is a very strong correlation between inflammation and depression. That’s beyond doubt. The treatment though, is what caught my attention. If depression is closely linked with inflammation, why treat with an anti-inflammatory drug, instead of advising people to reverse the inflammation in their body – the root of every common illness, chronic disease, and accelerated ageing. Get rid of that and your whole life changes! 

Inflammation is an indication your immune system is under attack. It’s a healthy immune response – in short doses. It happens when the immune system perceives there is an attack on the body. Our modern “food” supply has a lot to do with this – as well as environmental toxins and emotional ‘toxicity’. When we understand what triggers inflammation, we can measure for is, and then reverse it – completely naturally. Simply put, anything man-made that enters the body, your body will not recognise. This I’m afraid accounts for most processed foods that come with artificial flavourings and preservatives and other added chemicals, trans fats (present in desserts and fried food, doughnuts, chips etc) and even a few staple culprits including the modern wheat grain (it’s  been hybridised so altered by man) and cow’s milk – really designed for baby cows to grow fast.

Why would we take a drug? We can heal our bodies when we understand how. Putting anti-inflammatory drugs aside (which come with side effects and don’t treat the root), anti-depressants come with warnings of ‘suicidal thoughts’ – not the side effect you’re after when you’re on a drug to alleviate depression.

There is a challenge here though. If you’re depressed, to a degree, you’ll be immobilised. It can put you in a state where you’re unable to make decisions and in extreme cases – do anything. Self-love is the last thing on our mind if we’re depressed. It’s much easier to self-medicate than fix the problem. Agreed, the natural way takes longer, and it’s all doable. I recently interviewed someone who alleviated his depression by a radical shift in diet.  Maybe there’s a compromise here. Maybe the medications can be used in the very short term, and the inflammation in the body can be reversed, too, by treating with diet / lifestyle and by managing emotions, like stress. This is what I help people with.

Simply put, if you’re inflamed, it would be weird if you weren’t depressed to a degree.

See the article here:

Depression could be treated using anti-inflammatory drugs, scientists now believe, after determining that it is a physical illness caused by a faulty immune system.

Around one in 13 people in Britain suffers from anxiety or depression and last year the NHS issued 64.7 million prescriptions for antidepressants, double the amount given out a decade ago.

Current treatment is largely centred around restoring mood-boosting chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin, but experts now think an overactive immune system triggers inflammation throughout the entire body, sparking feelings of hopelessness, unhappiness and fatigue.

It may be a symptom of the immune system failing to switch off after a trauma or illness, and is a similar to the low mood people often experience when they are fighting a virus, like flu.

A raft of recent papers, and unexpected results from clinical trials, have shown that treating inflammation seems to alleviate depression.