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Diabetes and Depression Can Lead to Dementia

Dementia rates could be brought down by tackling diabetes and depression, encouraging healthier eating and boosting education levels, a study has claimed.

The research, which involved reading tests for 1,433 healthy people over 65 in France over seven years, found that targeting issues such as depression and diabetes had the greatest chance of lowering dementia levels.

In their work, the researchers assumed no effective treatments would be found in the near future.

"Diabetes, and perhaps also depression, should be the principal targets of future population based health prevention programmes (for dementia)", said the researchers in the BMJ.

A second BMJ study found death rates are more than three times higher in people with dementia in the year following diagnosis than in those without dementia, underlining the acute need for effective strategies and treatments.

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, the UK's leading dementia research charity, said: "This broad study recommends the practical application of many of the important dementia research findings of recent times.

"We know there are links between depression, diabetes and dementia, so any policy that urges clear diagnosis and monitoring of these conditions could help make an impact on dementia."

Copyright Press Association 2010

News Date: August 2010

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