A latest study which has been conducted by health experts from UC San Francisco has revealed a possible association between depression and higher body temperatures. The findings show that people suffering from depression are more prone to have increased body temperatures. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain why depression leads to elevated body temperature or vice versa. The study also emphasizes the requirement for additional research into whether the detected elevated body temperature among individuals suffering from depression is due to less ability to self-cool, greater heat generation from metabolic functions, or a mix of both factors. The findings of the study have been released in Scientific Reports.
The authors of the study assessed data from more than 20,000 participants from 106 countries across the world who put on a device to calculate body temperature and self-reported their symptoms of depression on a daily basis. Later experts witnessed an association between increased levels of severity in the symptoms of depression and higher body temperatures. Furthermore, experts observed a trend highlighting that people with fewer fluctuations in body temperature during the day might have greater depression scores. The findings of the study provide insight into potent innovative methods for curing depression. The lead author of the study Ashley Mason says that therapies involving increasing body temperature, such as hot tubs or saunas might be beneficial for depression patients, which can stimulate the body’s natural mechanisms like sweating to self-cool.