Scientists from Stanford University found that a medication normally used to boost insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes appears to help ease the symptoms of chronic depression.
The effect was strongest in people who were insulin-resistant but didn’t have diabetes.
The study is adding evidence to the theory that insulin resistance may play a leading role in some people’s depression.
The research is published in Psychiatry Research and was conducted by Dr. Natalie Rasgon et al.
Insulin is a hormone that allows the body and brain to use the sugar from foods as fuel. Someone who is sensitive to insulin uses the hormone effectively.
Someone who is insulin-resistant doesn’t use insulin well, and sugar is released into the bloodstream instead of being used to power cells in the body and brain.
Insulin resistance can be a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
In the study, the team examined 37 adults who were between 21 and 75 years old.
Their weight ranged from underweight to severely obese. None had diabetes, but some were insulin-resistant or had pre-diabetes.
All of the study volunteers had depression for longer than a year. Despite standard treatments for the mental health disorder, they were still experiencing depression.
They gave the study volunteers 12 weeks of treatment with pioglitazone or an inactive placebo. People were allowed to stay on their current antidepressant treatment as well.
Pioglitazone works by making people more sensitive to insulin.
The team found people who were insulin-sensitive had improvements in their depression whether they were taking the drug or a placebo.
But those who were insulin-resistant only saw improvement in their depression symptoms if they were taking the insulin-sensitizing drug. People who were insulin-resistant and who took the placebo didn’t get better.
The more insulin-resistant someone was, the better the drug worked on their depression.
The team says the idea that insulin resistance could cause problems in the brain makes sense.
The brain uses a lot of glucose (sugar), so anything that makes it harder for the brain to get the glucose it needs could affect vital brain functions, such as controlling emotions and thinking.
These findings suggest that any of the treatments for type 2 diabetes may also help people with longstanding depression.
Treatments include other medications that improve insulin sensitivity, and even lifestyle factors, such as losing weight or exercising. Both of those lifestyle factors increase insulin sensitivity, too.
If you care about depression, please read studies about the key to depression recovery, and sitting during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to depression.
For more information about depression, please see recent studies about complementary treatments for depression, and results showing this daily habit is a powerful medicine for depression.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
