Spanish researchers link type 2 diabetes to increased depressive symptoms

A study from the Predimed-Plus Mediterranean Diet Project supports an association between the presence of type 2 diabetes and the severity of depressive symptoms in older adults with obesity and metabolic syndrome. This work also suggests worse metabolic control based on mild levels of depressive symptoms in the short to medium term, which is influenced by body mass index and lifestyle habits associated with diabetes treatment. The results were published in Journal of Endocrinological Researchn.

“Type 2 diabetes and mood problems are highly comorbid, sharing underlying factors and mutual influences on their clinical course and treatment, including adherence to diet and physical activity or control of diabetes-related complications,” they explain Isabel Baenas and Lucia Camacho. Barcia, researchers from IDIBELL, Bellvitge University Hospital and CIBEROBN, who led the study. “This leads to an increase in morbidity and mortality and a decrease in the quality of life of these individuals, which is especially important for middle-aged and elderly adults, who constitute a vulnerable group due to the frequent coexistence of metabolic and mood disorders. “add the researchers.

The work was coordinated by a team led by Dr. Susana Jimenez-Murcia and Dr. Fernando Fernandez-Aranda from Bellwitge University Hospital and IDIBELL, and involved all CIBEROBN groups participating in Predimed-Plus. The study analyzed more than 6,000 participants to examine the cross-sectional association between depressive symptoms and the presence of type 2 diabetes, and to examine its relationship with metabolic control through glycosylated hemoglobin, which measures blood glucose levels, and other metabolic variables. Likewise, the prospective association between depressive symptoms and blood glycosylated hemoglobin levels was examined at 1-year follow-up.

“We assessed the predictive ability of baseline depressive symptoms based on glycosylated hemoglobin at 1-year follow-up, as well as the possible mediating role of various characteristics such as duration of diabetes, physical activity, adherence to a Mediterranean diet, and body mass index. explains Dr. Fernandez-Aranda, also a professor at the University of Barcelona and coordinator of the Eating Disorders Unit at the Bellwitge University Hospital.

Integrative therapeutic approach

The study is part of the Predimed-Plus project, a sample of older adults with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome who received a multimodal intervention with a Mediterranean diet and calorie restriction, accompanied by promotion of leisure-time physical activity and psychosocial support. support. .

“We observed that having type 2 diabetes increased the likelihood of higher levels of depressive symptoms, and in turn, with higher levels of depressive symptoms, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was higher,” Dr. Baenas and Camacho-Barcia said.

Analyzes in the study showed that the greater the severity of baseline depressive symptoms, the greater the likelihood of being within the range of glycosylated hemoglobin levels at one-year follow-up, reflecting worse metabolic control. The researchers also add that “greater severity of depressive symptoms at baseline, as well as duration of diabetes, predicted after one year of intervention higher glycosylated hemoglobin levels, higher body mass index, and lower levels of energy expenditure in leisure-time physical activity and lower likelihood of adherence.” Mediterranean diet.”

The results highlight the need to ensure screening for depressive symptoms as well as an integrative and multidisciplinary therapeutic approach in patients with type 2 diabetes that considers both metabolic control and depressive symptoms in this population, as symptomatic improvement in one will influence the other.

Link: Baenas I, Camacho-Barcia L, Salas-Salvado J, Fernandez-Aranda F. and others – “Association between type 2 diabetes and depressive symptoms after 1-year follow-up among older Mediterranean adults.” J Endocrinol Invest’, January 2024 | DOI: 10.1007/s40618-023-02278-у.