July 07, 2010
A new research found that having depression may nearly double the risk of developing dementia later in life. Researchers know that two conditions often co-exist but there is no surety about which actually leads to the other.
Now two researchers published in the American journal Neurology that suggests depression does mean dementia is more likely, although they do not show why.
The researchers still not found direct cause; they said that more studies are required to find out the proper reason and why the two conditions are linked. Researchers believe that person’s lifestyle brain chemistry and other social time may play a major role.
Dr. Jane Saczynski of the University of Massachusetts, who led the first of the two studies, said: “While it’s unclear if depression causes dementia, there are a number of ways depression might impact the risk of dementia.
Inflammation of brain tissue that occurs when a person is depressed might contribute to dementia. Certain proteins found in the brain that increase with depression may also increase the risk of developing dementia.”
In the study, in which around 949 elderly people involved for 17 years, showed that dementia more often followed a bout of depression. By the end of the study, 164 of the people had developed dementia. In which 22 percent of those who had the depression. In the second study, 1239 US people involved and looked at several times a person experienced depression related to their risk of dementia.
Having two or more episodes of depression nearly doubled the risk of dementia.
“Similarities in symptoms between dementia and depression can mean the two are sometimes confused at time of diagnosis, but we don’t know if they are biologically linked” Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said. “These latest studies suggest that there may be profound connections between dementia and depression so we must expand the research to find out more”.
“It is well known depression is common in early stages of dementia. What this study demonstrates is that depression at a younger age is probably a significant risk factor for dementia,” he said.
