Centro Medicina Invecchiamento, Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2009;49 Suppl 1:103-12. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2009.09.018.
The prevalence of pain in depressed individuals and the prevalence of depression in patients with pain are higher than when these conditions are considered individually. When pain is severe, impairs function, and/or is refractory to treatment, it is associated with more depressive symptoms and worse depression outcomes. Similarly, depression in patients with pain is associated with more complaints and greater functional impairment. Whether alleviation of pain helps depressive symptoms or, likewise, whether relief of depression improves pain, are questions still incompletely clarified. However, there is growing evidence that depression and pain share genetic factors, biological pathways and neurotransmitters. Thus, the most promising area of future research is elucidating the neurobiological alterations in pain pathways that intersect with those involved in depression.
疼痛在抑郁个体中的普遍程度，以及疼痛患者中抑郁的普遍程度，均高于将这些情况单独考虑时的程度。当疼痛严重、损害功能和/或对治疗有抗性时，它与更多的抑郁症状和更差的抑郁结果相关。同样，疼痛患者中的抑郁与更多的抱怨和更大的功能障碍相关。疼痛缓解是否有助于抑郁症状，或者相反，抑郁缓解是否改善疼痛，这些问题仍未完全阐明。然而，越来越多的证据表明，抑郁和疼痛共享遗传因素、生物学途径和神经递质。因此，未来研究最有前途的领域是阐明与抑郁相关的疼痛途径中的神经生物学改变。
