Depression diagnosis at any stage of life tied to later dementia risk: study
The increased risk was seen regardless of whether depression was diagnosed in early, middle or late life, say Danish researchers.
Men and women with diagnosed depression have an increased risk for dementia, according to a study in JAMA Neurology.
Dr Holly Elser, from Aarhus University in Denmark, and colleagues examined the associations between early-, middle-, and late-life depression and incident dementia in a nationwide cohort study involving Danish individuals.
Data were included from some 246,000 individuals with depression — 68% of whom were diagnosed before 60 — and nearly 1.2 million without depression.
Relative to the comparison cohort, those with depression had a 2.4-fold higher risk of dementia, regardless of whether they were diagnosed in early, middle or late life.
