Depression in Diabetes Patients Linked to Dementia, Study Finds | WPN World People News

Type 2 diabetes patients who suffer depression also have more significant mental decline than those without depression, a new study finds.

Diabetes and depression are common among older people and up to 20 percent of adults with type 2 diabetes have major depression, according to background information in the study. In addition, both of these disorders appear to be associated with an increased risk of dementia.

Both depression and diabetes have been identified as risk factors for dementia in general and Alzheimer's disease in particular.

Researchers led by Dr. Mark Sullivan of the University of Washington, Seattle, tracked outcomes for nearly 3,000 people who had type 2 diabetes and were at high risk for heart disease. The patients' thinking and memory (or "cognitive") abilities and levels of depression were assessed at the start of the study and the participants were followed for 40 months.

Patients with depression showed greater mental declines over the course of the study. The effect of depression on risk of mental decline was not affected by factors such as heart disease; age; treatments to control blood pressure, cholesterol or insulin levels; or intensive versus standard treatments to lower blood sugar.

Although the study found that depression in type 2 diabetes patients was associated with dementia risk, it could not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Nevertheless, since dementia is one of the fastest growing and most dreaded complications of diabetes, the findings may be important for public health.

It is possible that depression is an early manifestation of an underlying disease process that may eventually result in cognitive decline. It remains to be seen whether this effect is any different from what would be seen in a nondiabetic population, or whether antidepressant treatment would alter the risk of cognitive decline.

The study has potentially wide implications.

Previous studies have suggested that one in five older diabetic [patients] may suffer from major depression. Expert said that the "striking finding" from Sullivan's group "will need further study to see if depression treatment can decrease the risk of cognitive decline in patients with diabetes."

But it's always been difficult to sort out cause-and-effect when it comes to links between depression and mental decline.

Source: U.S.Department of Health & Human Services