According to a news release from Free University in Amsterdam, people with depression may age faster.

People with depression have an increased risk of different age-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and dementia. According to study author Josine Verhoeven, a researcher at the Free University in Amsterdam, this is the result of an accelerated cellular aging. The study offers proof that stressful conditions, like suffering from depression, can produce physiological wear and tear on the body.

“Psychological distress, as experienced by depressed persons, has a large, detrimental impact on the ‘wear and tear’ of a person’s body, resulting in accelerated biological aging,” said Verhoeven, according to LiveScience.

“The findings might help explain the variety of health complaints often experienced by people with major depression,” Verhoeven added.

Cellular aging can be measured by determining telomere length. Telomeres are specialized DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that protect the DNA from damage. The researchers measured the telomere length of 1095 depressed individuals, 802 individuals who had recovered from depression and 510 individuals who had never had depression.

The findings reveal that the telomeres are shorter in people who have dealt with depression, regardless of their physical health and lifestyle. Both the intensity and duration of depressive symptoms were linked with shorter telomere length.

The research reveals that depressed people are biologically a few years older than their healthy peers. Researchers believe that shortened telomeres are a consequence of disrupted physiological stress systems. However, the exact biological mechanisms that play a role in the relationship between telomere length and depression are still unclear.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, depression is characterized by depressed or sad mood, decreased interest in activities which used to be fun, weight gain or loss, problems concentrating, as well as recurrent thoughts of death.

The study’s results are described in greater detail in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

What do you think of the study’s findings? Are you worried about aging faster if you have depression? Start a conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments section?