Does Depression Beget Diabetes?

Filed in archive Research on June 5, 2006

Depression and diabetes have long been linked. (I can personally attest to the link, as the majority of my family members suffer from both conditions.) Often, studies have shown that diabetic patients also suffer from depression, leading researchers to believe that diabetes led to the mental illness. Now, scientists are considering the ol' switcheroo: can depression lead to diabetes?

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson and his team looked at more than 32,000 case studies of Saskatchewan patients and have published their findings in the medical journal diabetes care.

They discovered that patients with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes were 30 per cent more likely to have had a previous history of depression compared with people without diabetes.

No positive link has been verified, though some feel that things such as a poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to both diabetes and depression, and thus the link is found. Of course, more research needs to be done.

Have you ever suffered from depression? If so, did you have depressive symptoms before or after being diagnosed with diabetes?

(Photo Source: 4 Girls)