Orthopaedic Alerts - Implant Recall

The findings of yet more research further document the link between diabetes and depression. Scientists have found that the two illnesses appear to affect and influence the severity of each other in patients who suffer from both conditions, but the exact relationship is still unclear.

On the most basic level, when a person’s blood sugar levels fluctuate — the key element that diabetes patients struggle to regulate daily — so does his or her mood. This means that almost 26 million diabetes patients in the United States are at a higher risk for developing depression, according to a recent post by Kathleen Blanchard, a registered nurse from South Carolina.

Conversely, she says, people who are depressed increase their risk for developing diabetes because “hormonal imbalances set off neuroinflammatory processes.” Depression is largely thought to occur when levels of serotonin, a mood elevator in the brain, dip below normal. That’s why doctors have widely prescribed antidepressant drugs in the class known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that help maintain the proper amount of serotonin.

Antidepressant Risks

SSRIs themselves, however, are not without risks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned of an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and young adults up to age 24 who take the drugs. Some brand-name SSRIs are Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

In addition, SSRIs have been linked to many serious birth defects, including heart defects, anencephaly, cleft lip and palate, and respiratory distress. The FDA also has warned consumers that SSRIs taken during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). This birth defect affects a newborn’s heart and lungs and usually cannot be detected until after birth. It is fatal in about 10 percent of cases.

Actos Risks

Diabetes patients also need to be aware that some medications used to treat diabetes, such as the popular drug Actos, carry risks of severe complications. Based on a long-term study sponsored by the FDA and manufacturer Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. agency has warned that taking Actos for more than a year increases the risk of developing bladder cancer by 40 percent.

Treating Depression

Recently, doctors have focused on the other common method of treating depression: talk therapy. A study published last month in the Annals of Behavioral Medicineconcluded that among patients with diabetes, women develop depression twice as often as men. In an attempt to further determine how depression affects these women, they were enrolled in group cognitive behavioral therapy and the results were compared with those of depressed women with diabetes who received routine care.

“Rather than being taught to eliminate stress which is difficult, women in the study learned how to communicate more effectively, recognize feelings of stress and had to think differently to eliminate negative thoughts,” said Blanchard. “After six months of group therapy fewer women reported feeling depressed, compared to those who received usual care.”