Depression can make us physically older by speeding up the ageing process in our cells, according to a study.
Lab tests showed cells looked biologically older in people who were severely depressed or who had been in the past.
These visible differences in a measure of cell ageing called telomere length couldn’t be explained by other factors, such as whether a person smoked.
Experts already know that people with major depression are at increased risk of age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
This might be partly down to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours such as alcohol use and physical inactivity.
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