Researchers in the UK say that wound healing in depressed people is four times slower than that of normal people. These and related reports find a
Researchers in the UK say that wound healing in depressed people is four times slower than that of normal people. These and related reports find a place in the latest issue of the journal, “Psychosomatic Medicine”.
Psychological factors could have direct and indirect effects on the rate of wound healing, according to the researchers. Depression and other psychological problems have been shown to affect the immune system, which may keep a wound from healing on time, they note.Another possibility, according to them, is that depressed people may not take care of themselves as well as non-depressed people. Poor appetite and an irregular sleep schedule, which often accompany depression, may also interfere with the normal workings of the immune system, the authors note.
This is not the first research into the nexus between psychosomatic features and wound healing. Further research is still continuing.
