Recovery Michigan

Depression may compound the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with such early warning signs of metabolic disease as obesity, high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels, according to researchers from McGill University, l'Université de Montréal, the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal and the University of Calgary.

While previous studies have pointed to a link between depression and diabetes, the new findings, published in the journalMolecular Psychiatry, suggest that when depression combines with metabolic risk factors the risk of developing diabetes rises to a level beyond the sum of its parts.

"Emerging evidence suggests that not depression, per se, but depression in combination with behavioral and metabolic risk factors increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular conditions," said lead author Norbert Schmitz, an Associate Professor in McGill's Department of Psychiatry and a researcher at its affiliated Douglas Mental Health University Institute. "The aim of our study was to evaluate characteristics of individuals with both depressive symptoms and metabolic risk factors."