Based on their findings, the Johns Hopkins researchers say that detection and treatment of even mild depression may be crucial for better health in older adults.

The report, in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, describes an 18-month investigation of 78 adults with an average age of 72.5 years.

The researchers compared 22 of the patients with mild depression with the remaining 56, who were free from the disease, for their ability to generate white blood cells to fight off an infectious agent.

They found that those patients with lasting mild depression had poorer lymphocyte-T-cell responses, a measure of the body’s ability to fight disease, for up to one-and-a-half years after the study began.

No significant difference in the risk of depression was found between those who were married, those with more education or subjects at a higher income level.

Lead researcher Dr Lynanne McGuire, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that it was the length of time of the depression rather than the severity that affected a person’s immunity.

She also speculated that the loss of immune function might be worsened by the negative impact of depression on seeking or maintaining social support.

“Depressive symptoms can exacerbate and accelerate the immunological declines that typically accompany ageing,” she continued. “The failure to address chronic, mild depressive symptoms in older adults has important negative physiological consequences.”

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