|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Senior Citizens with Diabetes Twice as Likely to
Suffer Depression
Vicious cycle: Diabetes causes depression, that
reduces adherence to treatment, worsening the condition
June 15, 2007 – “Growing old can be disheartening,”
is the not-so-surprising lead sentence on a press release from the
University of Florida yesterday, which introduces a not-so-surprising
discovery – “for people with diabetes, the aging process can be
downright depressing.” But they say this study solves a mystery - which
ailment came first – diabetes or depression.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Diagnoses of Type 2 Diabetes Doubles the Risk of a
Stroke in Five Years
9.1% of the diabetes group had a stroke within the
first five years
June 14, 2007
Memory Problems More Likely for People Most Easily
Distressed
Earlier study found it may also lead to Alzheimer’s
disease
June 14, 2007
Diabetes Leads to Heart Disease, Shorter Lives for
Older Men and Women, Study Finds
Dramatically shorter lives for those with diabetes at
50 or older
June 11, 2007
FDA Wants Black Box Warnings for Diabetes
Medications – Avandia, Actos
Rep. Henry Waxman says ‘FDA dropped the ball’ with
Avandia
June 7, 2007
Lifestyle Changes, Medical Advances Share Credit for
Decline in Heart Deaths
Decrease would be greater had it not been for
increases in obesity and diabetes
June 7, 2007
New Mayo Clinic Tool Helps Get Diabetic Seniors to
Take Life-Saving Drugs
Tool is ‘clearly effective’ and preferred by 84% of
patients
May 29, 2007
Better Diabetes Care
May Lead to Reduced Blindness, Kidney
and Heart Disease
One of the first studies of quality improvement in
diabetes care
May 18, 2007
Diabetes Drug Spending May Surge 70% by 2010, Cancer
Now Drives Specialty Drugs
Medco finds generics, Medicare Part D
keeping increases down
May 17, 2007
Women with Heart Disease and Diabetes Get Less Care
Than Men
Women on Medicare fare better than those on private
insurance
May 14, 2007
Eighty Percent of Older Americans Live With a
Chronic Disease
Centers for Disease Control offers ways to reduce
risk for leading killers
May 2, 2007
Read the latest news on Senior
Health & Medicine |
|
The study, published this week in the Archives of
Internal Medicine, reveals that older adults diagnosed with the type 2
form of the disease are twice as likely as their peers to suffer from
depression.
An estimated 21 percent of seniors have the
disease, according to the American Diabetes Association, and 1.5 million
new cases are diagnosed each year. People with diabetes are at increased
risk for developing heart disease and stroke, as well as kidney disease,
blindness, dental disease and a host of other conditions.
UF researchers say depression may be next on the
list.
Doctors have noticed for some time that it is more
common among patients with the disease, but researchers have debated the
cause-and-effect relationship for years. People with diabetes may suffer
hormonal imbalances that predispose them to depression.
On the other hand, depression is associated with
physical and behavioral factors such as obesity and poor diet that some
say could be enough to trigger diabetes in the elderly. The question of
which ailment came first - diabetes or depression - has remained a
mystery until now.
“This is the first study to evaluate diabetes as a
risk factor for the onset of depression in older persons,” said study
author Dr. Matteo Cesari, a geriatrician in UF’s Institute on Aging.
“It’s likely we are looking at a vicious,
self-feeding cycle: Diabetes causes depression, which may reduce
adherence to diabetic treatment, therefore worsening the diabetic
condition, and so on.”
The researchers evaluated 2,500 healthy patients
aged 70 to 79 over a six-year period to determine if adult-onset
diabetes is a risk factor for depression. The participants were enrolled
in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study, an ongoing program
sponsored by the National Institute on Aging that is based in Memphis,
Tenn., and Pittsburgh.
UF researchers, who collaborated with Health ABC
investigators at six other universities in the U.S. and Europe,
discovered that people with diabetes are indeed twice as likely to
suffer from recurrent depression later in life. The risk is slightly
higher for those who don’t stick to recommended diet and treatment
regimens.
About 23 percent of the study participants had
diabetes, and nearly two-thirds of those patients had unhealthy blood
sugar levels. The study also revealed that diabetics with high blood
sugar also had elevated levels of an inflammatory marker called
interleukin-6 that has been associated with depression.
“There may be a direct biological link between
diabetes and depression,” said Dr. Marco Pahor, director of the UF
Institute on Aging and chairman of the College of Medicine’s department
of aging and geriatrics. “We know that depression is linked to
proinflammatory cytokines, for one. Diabetes may be one of the triggers
that causes depression.”
Lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet appeared to
be key factors that contribute to depression in people with diabetes,
researchers found.
“Obesity and physical performance are the most
important mediators in the relationship between diabetes and depression
reported in the study,” Cesari said. “It is noteworthy that both are
related to poor health status and poor quality of life.”
To avoid feeling melancholy later in life, the UF
researchers said people with diabetes should take extra care to control
their blood sugar levels by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising
regularly and remembering to take prescribed medications.
“Diabetes is a preventable condition. Right now, we
are facing a national epidemic because of obesity and a sedentary
lifestyle,” Pahor said. “Inspiring a change in lifestyle is an important
way that physicians can help patients avert depression and other
complications of diabetes.”
Depression can be a slippery slope. Patients
overwhelmed by sadness are more likely to abandon healthy eating habits
and become less active, the researchers said. The study highlights the
need for doctors to prevent the onset of diabetes by encouraging healthy
decisions regarding diet, exercise and medication.
“If diabetes is already present, the careful
monitoring of this condition and the control of (blood sugar) levels are
particularly important to avoid future negative health-related events,
including the potential onset of depression,” Cesari said.
Although physicians sometimes overlook depression
in the elderly, the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the
rate of suicide deaths in the older population exceeds that of the
general population.
“The research showing that diabetes has an
independent effect on the onset of new depression is an important
finding,” said Dr. Jack Guralnik, chief of the laboratory of
epidemiology, demography and biometry at 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.”
Links:
American Diabetes Association
Archives of Internal Medicine
University of Florida
UF’s Institute on Aging
College of Medicine’s
department of aging and geriatrics
Dr. Matteo Cesari
Dr. Marco Pahor
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute on Aging
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
