Lecture will look at link between mood disorders and premature death

Depressed people die prematurely, and it's not just suicide.

Depression is a very common illness that frequently is recurrent and leads to significant disability. It is less recognized that people with depression are at twice the risk of dying prematurely from a host of physical illnesses such as cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease.

A public lecture on Thursday, March 3, organized by the McMaster Brain-Body Institute, will look at the striking association between mood disorders and mortality from physical disease, emphasizing the complex relations between the brain and other physical symptoms.

“Bi-directional influences between the brain and the body are important to good health,” said Jane Foster, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, one of the lecturers at the event. “At the Brain-Body Institute we are interested in understanding how alterations in brain, immune, and hormonal function may contribute to stress-related disorders.”

Other guest speakers include Glenda McQueen and Valerie Taylor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and John Bienenstock, university professor, of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

Investigators at the Brain-Body Institute are committed to understanding the bi-directional influences of central nervous, immune, and hormonal systems, and the effect of this bi-directional communication on selected organ systems, such as the heart, lungs and gut.

The lecture will be held at 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, Room 3020.