Koenig, associate professor of psychiatry and internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, suggests that the study findings tie in to the broader area of research into psychological stress, and offer physical evidence that such stress greatly increases illness and death. If it is that significant, then it could also very well impact immune function and increase the risk of malignancy and malignant spread. For example, if a person had cancer and got depressed, it could facilitate the spread of the disease. A new study finds greater bone loss in patients with depression, particularly men, compared to a healthy, comparison group. Patients with untreated major depression die earlier than others, which is caused by a variety of diseases and explained only in part by suicide.
Researchers speculate that the stress hormone cortisol can cause physical illness.
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