Your health: Depression is now world's most widespread illness

Depression is most widespread illness

Chances are, you or someone you know has grappled with depression.

The global rate of the disorder, which the World Health Organization defines as a “persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities for two weeks or more,” has risen by more than 18 percent since 2005, according to the agency.

In 2015, the WHO estimated 322 million people were living with depression, making it the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, Fortune reports. The agency also found that the majority of those with the condition aren't receiving adequate care: in high income countries, it estimates 50 percent of those with the disorder don't get treatment, while in low-income countries that number rises to 80 to 90 percent.

In part, this stems from a lack of funding — on average, only 3 percent of a government's health budget is spent on mental health programs.

“These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to rethink their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency it deserves,” said Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general.

Depression's impact is financial, as well as psychological. Symptoms include lack of energy, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, substance abuse, anxiety, and thoughts of self-harm, which, while clearly not great for mental or physical health, also take a toll on economic productivity. (The WHO estimates that costs related to the condition add up to $1 trillion annually.)

In the U.S., an estimated 16.1 million adults, or nearly 7 percent of the population, has experienced at least one major depressive episode in the last year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Warning for contact lens wearers

If you have worn contact lenses for 10 years, you're six times more likely to develop an infection that could leave you blind than if you have laser eye surgery, new research suggests.

Known as microbial keratitis, the condition is when the cornea is invaded by either bacteria, fungi or an amoeba, the Daily Mail reports. These bugs can stick to the lenses and then burrow their way into the cornea, not only impairing someone's vision but leaving them in pain.

If an ulcer forms as a result and it isn't properly treated in time, it can leave patients blind, experts warn.

The study, carried out by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, compared the risk for microbial keratitis with contact lens wearers and a specific type of laser eye surgery called “laser in situ keratomileusis” or LASIK.

The study found that the risk for microbial keratitis associated with soft contact lens wear over time was higher than that after LASIK. It also discovered that instances of infection on the cornea were higher with extended-wear lenses, as opposed to daily wear ones.

Researchers said that contact lenses have traditionally been considered safer than refractive surgery, but the research results show this assumption may not be correct.