In a study in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors from Johns Hopkins University found patients with type 2 diabetes are 54 percent more likely to become depressed, and patients diagnosed with depression are 42 percent more likely to develop diabetes.
Researchers studied 5,201 adults for risk of type 2 diabetes who did and didn't have depressive symptoms about three years prior. They also analyzed 4,847 adults without depressive symptoms and looked at the odds of developing depressive symptoms for those with and without type 2 diabetes.
Men and women aged 45 to 84 were selected in 2000-2002 and followed until 2004-2005.
Since people with depression don't eat a balanced diet and are often obese, they may have other habits that would predispose them to diabetes, researchers believe. Doctors also found that people with untreated diabetes have a lower risk of depression than those who have been diagnosed and treated.
Previous studies have also found that treating depression can help extend the lives of people with diabetes. The authors add that doctors may want to routinely screen people with type 2 diabetes for depression.
