Depression and diabetes are each hard on the brain, and having both conditions may significantly raise the risk of dementia, according to new research.
“What this argues for is, we need to do a better job of both identifying diabetes and depression and then really treating them once identified,” said study researcher Dr. Dimitry Davydow, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
His team looked at dementia risk among 2.4 million people in Denmark, age 50 and older, who had depression, type 2 diabetes or both, and compared them with people who had neither condition.
The researchers also took into account pre-existing medical conditions, such as cerebral vascular problems, complications such as kidney problems and other ailments.
“Even after taking those into account, diabetes itself raised the risk of dementia by 15 percent, depression by 83 percent and the two together by 107 percent,” Davydow said.