People diagnosed with depression have a significantly increased risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology.
The study included individuals from Denmark, encompassing 246,499 diagnosed with depression and 1,190,302 without a depression diagnosis.
The researchers, led by Holly Elser, M.D., Ph.D., from Aarhus University in Denmark, discovered that 67.7% of those diagnosed with depression received the diagnosis before the age of 60.
Compared to the non-depressed cohort, those with a depression diagnosis had a 2.41 times higher likelihood of developing dementia.
This association remained consistent regardless of the time elapsed from the index date (i.e., the date of the depression diagnosis), even when more than 20 to 39 years had passed (hazard ratio, 1.79).
Additionally, the study revealed an increased dementia risk in those diagnosed with depression in early, middle, or late life. For ages 18 to 44, 45 to 59, and 60 and older, the hazard ratios were 3.08, 2.95, and 2.31, respectively.
Interestingly, men diagnosed with depression exhibited a higher hazard ratio for dementia than women (2.98 versus 2.21).
The study’s authors write: “Our results suggest that depression is not only an early symptom of dementia but also that depression is associated with an increase in dementia risk.”
They hypothesized these associations would persist regardless of the time since depression diagnosis or the age at which depression was diagnosed, and their findings support this hypothesis.
Notably, one of the authors disclosed having received fees from Peabody Arnold and owning a patent for the use of the medication glecaprevir/pibrentasvir.
Another author disclosed connections to the pharmaceutical company Amgen.
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The study was published in JAMA Neurology.
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