From the University of Florida researchers have debated the cause-and-effect relationship for years. People with diabetes may suffer hormonal imbalances that predispose them to depression. On the other hand, depression is associated with physical and behavioral factors such as obesity and poor diet that some say could be enough to trigger diabetes in the elderly.
"This is the first study to evaluate diabetes as a risk factor for the onset of depression in older persons,” said study author Dr. Matteo Cesari, a geriatrician in UF’s Institute on Aging. “It’s likely we are looking at a vicious, self-feeding cycle: Diabetes causes depression, which may reduce adherence to diabetic treatment, therefore worsening the diabetic condition, and so on.”