One Step Forward

Infection, Autoimmune Diseases Risk Factors for Mood Disorders

Severe infections requiring hospitalization and autoimmune diseases have been linked to an increased risk for subsequent mood disorders, new research shows.
Results of a large, longitudinal study showed that autoimmune disease increased the subsequent risk for a mood disorder diagnosis by 45%, and any history of hospitalization due to infection was associated with a 62% increased risk.
Furthermore, these 2 risk factors had a synergistic effect so that the risk for a subsequent mood disorder in individuals with an autoimmune disease and an infection more than doubled the risk for a subsequent mood disorder — an effect that was larger than predicted by the combination of the single effects of the 2 disease groups.

Oh Yeah.   Tell me about it.