Diabetes linked to depression risk and vice versa

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People being treated for type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for depression, according to a new report, and individuals with depression have a moderately increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

To explore the relationship between diabetes and depression, Dr. Sherita Hill Golden at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and colleagues analyzed data on 6814 subjects who underwent three examinations between 2000 and 2005.

Among 4847 participants without depression at the start of the study, the researchers report, rates of occurrence of depression symptoms during follow-up were similar for people without diabetes and those with untreated type 2 diabetes, but about twice as high in people being treated for type 2 diabetes.

"The psychological stress associated with diabetes management may lead to elevated depressive symptoms," Golden's team suggests in their report in Journal of the American Medical Association.

They also found that participants who had symptoms of depression were about 30 percent more likely to develop diabetes during the study than people without depression.

The link between depression and diabetes onset was partially due to lifestyle factors, such as caloric intake and physical activity.

"Future studies should determine whether interventions aimed at modifying behavioral factors associated with depression will complement current type 2 diabetes prevention strategies," Golden and her colleagues write.

Their finding also suggest, they add, "that clinicians should be aware of increased risk of elevated depressive symptoms in individuals with treated type 2 diabetes and consider routine screening for depressive symptoms among these patients."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, June 18, 2008.