Florida Researchers Identify Possible Diabetes-Depression Link
Doctors have noted for years that many of their older, type-2 diabetic patients tend to also be clinically depressed, and they've wondered if there's a connection. Late last week, researchers at the Health Science Center at the University of Florida released results of a study showing that elders with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer from recurrent depression than their non-diabetic peers. The risk is even higher for elders who don't stick to their diet and medication.
"The research showing that diabetes has an independent effect on the onset of new depression is an important finding," said Jack Guralnik, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute on Aging. "Physicians caring for older diabetic patients need to be particularly observant to identify the onset of depression so that they can initiate early treatment."
More research is necessary for doctors to clearly understand the diabetes-depression linkage, as there remain questions about the cause-and-effect relationship -- whether diabetes provokes depression or vice versa. Last week's research suggests that diabetes itself is a precipitating risk factor in older people. Because the elderly diabetic population is so large and growing, this study carries important implications for early intervention to prevent an epidemic of depression among these patients. Twenty-one percent of seniors have diabetes, and 1.5 million new cases are diagnosed every year.
Untreated, depression can worsen patients' diabetes. Overwhelming sadness makes staying on a healthy diet, taking diabetes medications as prescribed, and remaining physically active especially tough. Without intervention to deal with the depression, a vicious cycle of sadness, non-compliance, and worsening diabetes, with its accompanying risks of morbidity and mortality, may be difficult to stem.
This article originally appeared in the June 2007 issue of HME Business.