Biological mechanisms and possible primary prevention of depression

Chih-Yun Kuo; Ivo Stachiv

doi:10.5498/wjp.v12.i5.770

Biological mechanisms and possible primary prevention of depression

World J Psychiatry. 2022 May 19;12(5):770-772. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i5.770.

Authors

Chih-Yun Kuo¹, Ivo Stachiv²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology and Centre of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague 12108, Czech Republic.
² Department of Functional Materials, Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Praha 18021, Czech Republic. stachiv@fzu.cz.

Abstract

Individuals with unipolar depressive disorder (UDD) are having an increased risk of death and development of dementia in later life. It is widely expected that in a near future UDD would be the leading cause of death; therefore, a primary inexpensive prevention of UDD will be of a great importance to the society. Several studies provide evidences supporting the positive effect of Mediterranean diet on a reduced risk for development of depression.

Keywords: Dementia; Depression; Mediterranean diet; Primary prevention; Unipolar depressive disorder.