Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Depression increases dementia risk

Darpan News Desk IANS, 31 Jul, 2014 07:33 AM
    The secret of preventing memory loss in old age may lie in treating depression and causes of stress early as researchers have confirmed that depression indeed increases the risk of dementia.
     
    Having a higher level of depression symptoms was associated with a more rapid decline in thinking and memory skills, the findings showed.
     
    "These findings are exciting because they suggest depression truly is a risk factor for dementia," said Robert Wilson from Rush University Medical Centre in the US.
     
    "If we can target and prevent or treat depression and causes of stress we may have the potential to help people maintain their thinking and memory abilities into old age," Wilson explained.
     
    The study involved 1,764 people with an average age of 77 who had no thinking or memory problems at the start of the study.
     
    Participants were screened every year for symptoms of depression, such as loneliness and lack of appetite, and took tests on their thinking and memory skills for an average of eight years.
     
    During the study, 922 people, or 52 percent of the participants, developed mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and a total of 315 people, or 18 percent, developed dementia.
     
    People who developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia were more likely to have a higher level of symptoms of depression before they were diagnosed.
     
    The study appeared in the journal Neurology.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Forget injection, pills to cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C

    Forget injection, pills to cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C
    On this World Hepatitis Day, there's good news for patients, particularly from India, for those suffering from hepatitis C....

    Forget injection, pills to cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C

    'India will take at least 40 years to eliminate leprosy'

    'India will take at least 40 years to eliminate leprosy'
    India's leprosy elimination programme has not been "successful" and it will take at least 40 years to completely eliminate the disease from the country...

    'India will take at least 40 years to eliminate leprosy'

    Device that reads sleep patterns

    Device that reads sleep patterns
    Combining information on your sleep patterns with what is going on around you, this new device will wake you up at the perfect moment....

    Device that reads sleep patterns

    Fibroscan can diagnose liver stiffness in Hepatitis cases

    Fibroscan can diagnose liver stiffness in Hepatitis cases
    With the number of Hepatitis B and C patients increasing in India, a hospital here launched a technique called fibroscan for the non-invasive...

    Fibroscan can diagnose liver stiffness in Hepatitis cases

    Lack of blood screening causing Hepatitis C

    Lack of blood screening causing Hepatitis C
    Vardhan Singh, a 65-year-old patient of acute anaemia, met with an accident 25 years ago. The grievous injuries he suffered and the loss of blood compelled...

    Lack of blood screening causing Hepatitis C

    Erotic thoughts key to female orgasm: Study

    Erotic thoughts key to female orgasm: Study
    Women who miss on orgasm should focus more on their their bodily sensations during intercourse and try to have more erotic thoughts during the act...

    Erotic thoughts key to female orgasm: Study