People who suffer from both depression and diabetes have greater markers of inflammation in their blood than those who only suffer from diabetes, according to a new study.
Researchers have known that people with diabetes have a higher depression rate than those without that disorder.And the people who suffer from both tend to be worse than people with diabetes, but without depression.
Inflammation is a signal of the body responding to a disease, trauma or other causes of stress.New research suggests that higher levels of inflammation could explain the relationship between diabetes, depression and poor health in general, the researchers said, although exactly how it is still unknown.
"We ask why depression is so bad for diabetes. The study suggests that we have a possible biological explanation," said the study co -author, Dr. Khalida Ismail, of the King's College Psychiatry Institute in Great Britain.
"Inflammation could cause several different chronic diseases. That is a fairly new way of thinking about the mind and body," he said.
With his team, Ismail studied 1,227 people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Those who reported symptoms of depression tended to be younger and more obese, with higher rates of heart and circulatory disorders, and with higher concentrations of established inflammation markers in the blood, according to the results published in Care diabetes.
After considering other potential differences between the participants, such as age, sex, the amount of body fat and the use of certain drugs, six of the 12 measured inflammation markers remained linked to depression.
More than one in 20 Americans reported depression in the 2005-2006 period and around one in 12 has diabetes, one of the main causes of heart disease and strokes, according to the centers for the control and prevention of diseases of states of statesUnited (CDC).
Ismail commented that mortality is twice higher among diabetics with depression than among those who only suffer from diabetes.
"The conventional belief is that this (depression) is a consequence of the psychological burden of having diabetes. If that is the case, if you deal with depression, the control of diabetes should improve," explained the optional.
But according to Ismail, that does not happen, so that it began to wonder whether inflammation, which often suffers from diabetics, could help explain both conditions and the worst results.
"It's a bit like an engine," Ismail said."The organism is working a little faster. Then there is this constant low degree inflammation that is causing damage to your brain, your pancreas and your vascular system," he concluded.
Source: Diabetes Care Online, May 19, 2014.