Link between depression and type 1 diabetes reported

Wed, 26 Jan 2011
A new study has highlighted the link between depression and type 1 diabetes, which is caused by autoimmune damage to the pancreas, and that the autoimmune process is associated with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines thought to produce depressive symptoms in a range of conditions. Depression, on the other hand, is believed to be linked to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases .

Scientists at the University of Colorado are looking for insights into the different rates of depression in either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and examined data from 458 diabetic patients and 546 controls in the Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes (CACTI) Study between 2006 and 2008, with control subjects being taken from the same community, and including spouses, friends and neighbours of the patients.

This study saw a 32.1 per cent rate of depression in patients with type 1 diabetes, as compared to 16.0 per cent in matched control subjects. Type 1 diabetes is more likely to be associated with depression, although, previous research has found a wide variety of results, ranging from 3.8 to 27.3 per cent for diabetics in general also experiencing depression. Depression is commonly linked with complications of diabetes, such as coronary artery disease .

The study claimed that the higher results they found compared to previous research was due to focusing just on type 1 diabetes rather than both types, and also using different criteria to define depression.
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