Depression May Accelerate Cognitive Decline

In that major depression occurs in up to 20% of diabetics and it has been shown to increase the risk for retinopathy and other microvascular complications, as well as macrovascular complications like heart attack and stroke, researchers from the University of Seattle (Washington, USA) assessed whether depression raises the risks of  cognitive impairment, among type-2 diabetics.  Mark Sullivan and colleagues completed a 40-month cohort study of 2,977 subjects enrolled in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes-Memory in Diabetes (ACCORD-MIND) trial.  Depressed patients showed consistently greater declines in cognitive function on three separate assessment tests, even after adjustment for confounding factors  Observing that: “Depression in patients with type 2 diabetes was associated with greater cognitive decline in all domains, across all treatment arms, and in all participant subgroups assessed,” the study authors submit that: “Future randomized trials will be necessary to determine if depression treatment can lower the risk of cognitive decline in patients with diabetes.”