Posted on: Monday, May 28, 2001

Health
Depression can increase risk of getting diabetes, study says

USA Today

People with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer depression, says a new study that suggests depression may contribute to diabetes in some patients.

Depression, of which there is a high incidence in the Islands, is present in 10 percent of men with diabetes and 20 percent of women with diabetes, double the rates in the general population, says Patrick Lustman, professor of medical psychology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who analyzed 42 studies published in the last quarter century on depression and diabetes.

"It used to be thought that depression was a reaction to diabetes," he says. "We now know that depression doubles your risk for getting diabetes (and) there's now good evidence that depression is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes."

Diabetes, which affects an estimated 16 million Americans, results from the inability to make or efficiently use insulin, a hormone that helps process glucose or sugar, resulting in a buildup of sugar in the blood. In type 1 diabetes, no insulin is produced; in the far more common type 2 diabetes, the body doesn't respond to the insulin it produces.

"Depressed people often withdraw from life and become more physically inactive," Lustman says. "They may overeat, which can lead to sharp increases in weight." Obesity and lack of exercise are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

But, even "independent of weight gain and other factors," Lustman says, "there are changes in hormones that occur during depression that can directly increase insulin resistance."

Previous studies have shown that diabetics who suffer depression are more likely to experience complications of diabetes, including heart disease, nerve damage and blindness. That means it's important to treat not only the diabetes, but also the depression, he says.