Results from a 20-year cohort study revealed that women with a history of depression had a more than twofold increased risk for systemic lupus erythematosus compared to those without depression.

“There is some evidence that depression may increase risk of autoimmune diseases,” Andrea L. Roberts, PhD, of Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, told Healio Psychiatry. “However, there have been relatively few studies that follow people over time to see whether people who are depressed are more likely to develop new cases of autoimmune disease, compared to people who are not depressed. Studies like that provide stronger evidence that depression may increase risk of developing new autoimmune disease.”

Researchers evaluated data collected from two large cohorts of women to determine whether a connection exists between depression and risk for incident systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

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