Diabetes and depression: a fatal mix

SEATTLE, Oct 26, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A just-released three-year study finds type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix.

Researchers found patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared with patients with type 2 diabetes alone.

Researchers at the University of Washington and at Group Health Cooperative, a large, Seattle-based health plan, surveyed and then followed 4,154 patients with type 2 diabetes. The patients completed written questionnaires and then automated diagnostic, laboratory, and pharmacy data were collected from the HMO.

The researchers also reviewed Washington state mortality data to analyze diabetes complications and deaths. They found depression is common among people who have type 2 diabetes and is strongly linked with increased mortality.

But the researchers said more work is needed to untangle the cause-and-effect relationships among depression, behavior, diabetes complications and mortality.

The results appear in the November edition of Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association.

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