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Depression Can Foreshadow Intellectual Decline in Older People |
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From University of Rochester: Depression in the elderly increases the risk of subsequent mental impairment and can act as a predictor of future intellectual decline, University of Rochester Medical Center psychiatrists and researchers have found. "We can't conclude that treatment or prevention of depression would reduce or prevent cognitive decline but these findings certainly raise the possibility and that would be our hope," said Jeffrey M. Lyness, M.D., professor of psychiatry, associate chair for education in the Department of Psychiatry and senior author of an article on the research. This is the first study to analyze simultaneously the roles of depression and intellectual dysfunction over time in a large group of older people. "You can have a good memory and good language skills but if you lose executive function, you can't do very well in daily life," Lyness said. Trained interviewers questioned participants in their homes or in research offices at the Medical Center. They also reviewed each patient's primary care medical chart, recording information about mood and cognitive symptoms, disorders, or treatments as well as active and past medical problems and current medications. The patient interviews included assessments of cognition, functional status, and depression. Additional interviews and chart reviews were conducted one year after the initial interview and then again two years later. Physicians who treat older patients should be aware of the increased risk of loss of mental functions for depressed patients, the researchers concluded. "The next step is to study whether treatment or prevention of depression can prevent decline in executive function," Lyness said.
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