Depression and Alzheimer’s Risk Linked

A Dutch research team reports that depression appears to more than double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Previous studies has linked depression to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, and many have suspected that risk is tied to changes in the brain caused by depression. The theory has been that depression shrinks specific areas, leaving the brain vulnerable to the development of Alzheimer’s.

However, this recent study found that exact nature of the association isn’t clear. Researchers don’t know yet whether depression contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease or whether another unknown factor causes both depression and dementia. They need to do more studies to understand the relationship between depression and dementia.