Is Depression Related to Dementia?

A new study, recently published in an online issue of Neurology, gives insight into the relationship between depression and dementia. The  study indicates that the association of depression with dementia is independent of dementia-related brain changes. The study involved 1,764 people with an average age of 77 who had no thinking or memory problems at the start of the study. Participants were screened every year for symptoms of depression and took tests on their thinking and memory skills for an average of eight years. A total of 680 people died during the study, and autopsies were performed on 582 of them to look for brain plaques and tangles. During the study, 52 percent of the participants developed mild cognitive impairment, while 18 percent developed dementia. The researchers found no relationship between how much damage was found in the brain and the level of depression symptoms people had or in the change in depression symptoms over time. Having a higher level of depression symptoms was associated with more rapid decline in thinking and memory skills, accounting for 4.4 percent of the difference in decline that could not be attributed to the level of damage in the brain. “These findings are exciting because they suggest depression truly is a risk factor for dementia, and if we can target and prevent or treat depression and causes of stress, we may have the potential to help people maintain their thinking and memory abilities into old age,” said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD. To learn more about the study, click here.