COVID-19 pandemic increased rates and severity of depression, whether people were infected or not

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted just about every part of people’s lives. Quarantining, social distancing, societal disruptions and an ever-shifting, uncertain landscape of rules and restrictions and variants created stress and isolation that impacted the mental health of millions of Americans. Now, in a new study of nearly 136,000 patients from Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City, researchers found that depressive […]

Social isolation linked to higher markers of inflammation in older adults

In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, older US adults who experienced social isolation had higher blood levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, two markers of inflammation that can have long-term negative consequences for the health of individuals as they age. The study included a nationally representative sample of 4,648 Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. The […]