Scientists at McMaster University found out that being depressed and living in poor urban areas might make you age faster.
This research, published on June 5 in The Journals of Gerontology, discovered that both depression and living in deprived city areas are linked to early aging.
This is even true when other health and lifestyle risks are considered.
Parminder Raina, a professor at McMaster University, led the research team. This team also included researchers from the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.
How They Studied Aging
To understand how fast people were aging, the team used two DNA methylation-based estimators, or “epigenetic clocks.” Divya Joshi, the study’s first author, explained that these clocks look at aging at the cell level.
They show the difference between a person’s actual age and their “biological age.”
The team found that both depression and living in deprived areas were linked to faster aging as measured by the DNAm GrimAge clock.
Depression and Aging
The team used a 10-item scale to measure depression. They found that for every point increase on the depression score, the risk of death increased by one month.
They believe that depression might cause more damage to our bodies and disrupt our physiological systems. This could lead to early aging.
City Living and Aging
To measure deprivation in neighborhoods, the team used two indices developed by the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium. These indices used data from the 2011 census.
The indices looked at two types of deprivation. Social deprivation measures how few social resources a family or community has. Material deprivation measures how hard it is for people to get modern conveniences.
This includes things like good housing, healthy food, a car, high-speed internet, or a neighborhood with recreational facilities.
The team found that the risk of death increased by almost a year for people living in more deprived areas compared to less deprived areas.
Depression and Deprivation
The study did not find that living in deprived areas made depression’s effect on aging worse. Joshi said that depression seems to speed up aging in ways that are not linked to living in deprived areas.
What’s Next?
The team studied epigenetic data from 1,445 people who were part of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. This study is following more than 50,000 people who were aged 45 to 85 when they joined.
Parminder Raina said that studies like this are important. They can help confirm findings like the ones from this study.
By following the same group of people for 20 years, scientists can see if epigenetic changes stay the same or can be reversed. They can also learn more about what leads to faster aging.
If you care about depression, please read studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies that ultra-processed foods may make you feel depressed, and extra-virgin olive oil could reduce depression symptoms.
The study was published in The Journal of Gerontology.
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