In order to improve the treatment and prevention of depression, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the brains and bodies in which it manifests. Several studies have examined the potential links between depressive symptoms and body temperature, but their limited sample sizes have cast doubt on their findings. To address this issue, a group of researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) analyzed data from a large sample of 20,880 individuals over a period of seven months. Their results confirmed that individuals with depression tend to have higher body temperatures. Body temperature alterations have been linked with depression in small studies. Further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms of this association.
People from 106 countries participated in the study. The study suggests a connection between body temperature and depression. The study also stated that if something as simple as staying cool could help alleviate depressive symptoms, it could potentially benefit millions of people worldwide.
The researchers assert that there could exist several reasons for this association. Depression is interlinked with metabolic processes that generate excess heat, or with biological functions that are not functioning correctly. Alternatively, there could be a common underlying cause, such as mental stress or inflammation that affects both body temperature and depressive symptoms in isolation.
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Further studies could investigate this plausible link. Nonetheless, it is evident that depression is an intricate and multifarious condition, probably with numerous triggers, and body temperature could be one of these triggers.
Earlier research has discovered that hot tubs and saunas can alleviate the symptoms of depression, albeit in a small sample size. It is conceivable that the self-cooling induced by sweating triggers a mental effect too.
“Ironically, heating people up actually can lead to rebound body temperature lowering that lasts longer than simply cooling people down directly, as through an ice bath,” says UCSF psychiatrist Ashley Mason. “What if we can track the body temperature of people with depression to time heat-based treatments well?”
The results of the study indicate that as individuals reported more severe symptoms of depression, their average body temperature tended to increase. Depression affects approximately 5% of the global population, underscoring the need for more effective treatments and better understanding of the condition. Each new discovery about the disease brings hope for progress in addressing this pressing issue.
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References:
1. Mason, A.E., Kasl, P., Soltani, S. et al. Elevated body temperature is associated with depressive symptoms: results from the TemPredict Study. Sci Rep 14, 1884 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-51567-w
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