Inflammation may be the link between chronic pain and depression (C-reactive protein is a marker)

Chronic pain—or pain that lasts at least three months—is closely intertwined with depression. Individuals living with pain's persistent symptoms may be up to four times more likely to experience depression, research shows. Now, a new study shows that a person's risk of depression increases alongside the number of places in the body in which they experience pain. Furthermore, inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation) help explain the association between pain and depression. This finding suggests that the mechanisms underlying chronic pain and depression may be driven by systemic inflammation, the...