(Press-News.org) Depression and type 2 diabetes mellitus were each associated with an increased risk for dementia and that risk was even greater among individuals diagnosed with both depression and diabetes compared with people who had neither condition, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry.
Diabetes and major depression are common in Western populations and as many as 20 percent of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus also have depression.
Dimitry Davydow, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and coauthors examined the risk for dementia among individuals with depression, type 2 diabetes or both compared with individuals with neither condition in a group of more than 2.4 million Danish citizens, who were 50 and older and free from dementia from 2007 through 2013.
Overall, 19.4 percent of individuals in the group had a diagnosis of depression (477,133 individuals), 9.1 percent had type 2 diabetes (223,174 individuals), and 3.9 percent (95,691 individuals) had diagnoses of both diabetes and depression. The average age at initial diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was 63.1 years old and the average age at initial diagnosis of depression was 58.5 years old.
The authors found that during the study period, 2.4 percent of individuals (59,663 people) developed dementia and the average age at diagnosis was nearly 81 years. Of those individuals who developed dementia, 15,729 people (26.4 percent) had depression alone and 6,466 (10.8 percent) had type 2 diabetes alone, while 4,022 (6.7 percent) had both conditions.
The results of the study indicate that type 2 diabetes alone was associated with a 20 percent greater risk for dementia and depression alone was associated with an 83 percent greater risk, while having both depression and type 2 diabetes was associated with a 117 percent greater risk. The risk for dementia appeared to be even greater among those study participants younger than 65.
"In light of the increasing societal burden of chronic diseases, further research is needed to elucidate the pathophysiologic mechanisms linking depression, DM [type 2 diabetes mellitus] and adverse outcomes such as dementia and to develop interventions aimed at preventing these dreaded complications," the study concludes.
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online April 15, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0082.
Editor's Note: The study was supported by an unrestricted grant from the Lundbeck Foundation and by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Commentary: Promoting Healthy Brain Aging
In a related commentary, Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, writes: "In conclusion, the study by Katon and colleagues illustrates the need for convergent scientific approaches to meet the challenge of promoting healthy brain aging and cognitive fitness into the last years of life. The convergence of expertise from epidemiology, behavioral and basic science in the biology of aging and brain health are all necessary 'to move the needle' in the demographic challenge that confronts the entire globe."
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online April 15, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0174.
INFORMATION:
Editor's Note: The author made conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Media Advisory: To contact corresponding author Dimitry Davydow, M.D., M.P.H., call Leila R. Gray at 206-685-0381 or email leilag@uw.edu. To contact commentary author Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D., call Ashley Trentrock at 412-586-9776 or email TrentrockAR@upmc.edu.
Amsterdam, April 15, 2015 - In a recent study published in Optics Communications, scientists from Bar-Ilan University in Israel have presented a new technique that significantly reduces the halo effect that is generated when using multifocal (contact and intra-ocular) lenses and looking at bright point sources in dark conditions.
Presbyopia is a result of natural aging and stems from a gradual thickening and decrease in elasticity of the lens inside the eye. Corrective lenses used to address presbyopia often lead to a halo effect. This is basically a glow or color light ...
HOUSTON - (April 15, 2015) - A cobalt-based thin film serves double duty as a new catalyst that produces both hydrogen and oxygen from water to feed fuel cells, according to scientists at Rice University.
The inexpensive, highly porous material invented by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour may have advantages as a catalyst for the production of hydrogen via water electrolysis. A single film far thinner than a hair can be used as both the anode and cathode in an electrolysis device.
The researchers led by Rice postdoctoral researcher Yang Yang reported their discovery ...
The slow implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) in the USA as part of homeland security and anti-terrorism measures is leaving chemical plants vulnerable and putting at risk the safety of American citizens, according to research published in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures.
Maria Rooijakkers and Abdul-Akeem Sadiq of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University-Purdue University, in Indianapolis, explain that post-9/11 efforts to safeguard the chemical sector gave the Department of Homeland ...
WASHINGTON -- U.S. communities and federal agencies should more intentionally seek to create healthier communities during disaster preparation and recovery efforts - something that rarely happens now, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. By adding a health "lens" to planning and recovery, a community can both mitigate the health damage caused by disasters and recover in ways that make the community healthier and more resilient than it was before.
"We have an opportunity to transform our response to devastating disasters into an effort to meaningfully enhance ...
MIT chemists have devised an inexpensive, portable sensor that can detect gases emitted by rotting meat, allowing consumers to determine whether the meat in their grocery store or refrigerator is safe to eat.
The sensor, which consists of chemically modified carbon nanotubes, could be deployed in "smart packaging" that would offer much more accurate safety information than the expiration date on the package, says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry at MIT.
It could also cut down on food waste, he adds. "People are constantly throwing things ...
Young offenders in late Victorian times were much less likely to go on to commit other crimes after serving a sentence in an institution than their counterparts today, new research shows.
A study of the lives of 500 children committed to reformatory or industrial schools over a century ago showed that only 22% re-offended during the rest of their lives after their release. This compares with today's figure of 73% of young people re-offending within a year after release from custody.
Professor Pamela Cox told the British Sociological Association's annual conference ...
LAWRENCE -- Most partisans -- average Democratic and Republican voters -- act like fans in sports rivalries instead of making political choices based on issues, according to a new study with a University of Kansas researcher as the lead author.
"What is the consequence of today's polarized politics? What's motivating partisans to vote in this climate?" said Patrick Miller, a University of Kansas assistant professor of political science. "For too many of them, it's not high-minded, good-government, issue-based goals. It's, 'I hate the other party. I'm going to go out, ...
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - Determining and implementing orchard management practices that can improve soil organic matter is one of the primary goals of the USDA's National Organic Program. For producers in the southeastern United States, where interest in small-scale and organically managed orchards is growing, the challenge can be finding combinations of groundcover management systems and organic nutrient sources that can simultaneously improve soil quality. A new research study provides producers in the region with valuable information about effective organic orchard management ...
It's not all bad for crow chicks who have to share their nest with an uninvited pushy guest such as a cuckoo youngster. For one, they can sit back and wait for food to arrive while the cuckoo chick does all the begging for nourishment. So says Diana Bolopo of the University of Valladolid in Spain, who led a study into the pros and cons associated with the parasitic relationship of the great spotted cuckoo with the carrion crow. The findings are published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
When great spotted cuckoos parasitize and take over magpie ...
This news release is available in German.
Modern, machine-friendly agriculture is dominated by monocultures. One single cultivar - one genotype of a crop species - is cultivated on large areas. Favored cultivars are optimized for high yields and often contain only few natural plant defense compounds. Unfortunately, these extensive monocultures of identical plants can become an ecological wasteland and cause permanent damage to the ecosystem, especially when combined with blanket application of fertilizer and pesticides. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute ...
