Researchers at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions have documented such a strong association between diabetes and depression that the research team suggests new treatment options targeting the combined diseases might prove to be more effective than when traditional treatment options for diabetes alone are coupled with traditional treatment options for depression.

The research team, led by Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, analyzed the medical records of a group of 6,814 people described as ethnically diverse men and women aged 45 to 84 years old.  Ethnicities identified by the study participants themselves included black, Chinese, Hispanic, and white.  Each participant was clinically examined three times over a period of three years.

About 9% of the study group was being treated for diabetes.  These same individuals were found to be almost 54% more prone to developing symptoms of depression described as “elevated” than were study participants not being treated for diabetes.

On the other hand, study participants showing strong symptoms of depression were about 42% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes by the end of the three-year study than study participants with no depressive symptoms.

Golden says the combination of diseases can make achieving promising clinical outcomes for either condition rather difficult.  She emphasized how important it is that healthcare personnel understand how the presence of one disease increases the risk of developing the other and suggests the medical community make it a routine practice to look for the emergence of one disease after the other has been diagnosed.