Depressed or Lonely at Increased Risk of Cdiff

People who are depressed or lonely are at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection, according to University of Michigan Health System researchers. Cdiff is nasty stuff. It
caused my mother to be rehospitalized a few times. Of course getting it would make you depressed too!

In one study, they interviewed nearly 16,800 participants every other
year from 1992-2006. The average age of participants was 68. The
researchers linked the interview information with data from Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services Standard Analytical Files from a
variety of healthcare settings.

The second study focused on C. diff patients in hospitals. 

The results of the first study showed a relationship between depression and C. diff infection. 

• Those with major depression were 36% more likely to get C. diff,
  and those with depressive disorders were 35% more likely to become
  infected.
   
• Widowed participants were 54% more likely to be diagnosed with
  C. diff, while people who did not live alone were 25% less likely to get the infection.

“Self-reports of feeling sad or having emotional, nervous or
psychiatric problems at baseline were also associated with the later
development of CDI,” the researchers wrote.

The second study showed that patients on Remeron (mirtazapine) and
Prozac (fluoxetine) were twice as likely to be diagnosed with C. diff.

It remains unclear whether depression itself
spurs microbial changes in the gut that are conducive to C. diff , or whether medications given to treat depression are the culprits.
 
Stay positive my friends.