Two separate studies, one in the USA and one In Holland have confirmed a fairly worrying trend. Alzheimer’s is upto 2.5 times more likely in people who have a history of suffering from depression. The worst parts of this are twofold, first depression is on the increase in the western world, helped along by the recession. Secondly depression is incredibly difficult to treat effectively, and in many cases people may not realise they are infact depressed. Depression is however a serious problem, and can lead to many other problems, not to mention dietary and metabolic problems, as well as insomnia as mentioned int he previous article.
The important question to ask though is “Is this news useful?”
The answer I think is a resounding yes, since we have found one link to a degenerative illness that is barely understood by our scientists. Discovering the significant correlation between depression and Alzheimer’s could help us understand more about how it effects the brain, and how the may contribute to one another. There is however a chicken or the egg problem posed now. Does Depression help cause Alzheimer’s or the other way around?
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