Depression in women linked to cancer, diabetes and heart disease

Depression in women is linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes, finds a recent study.

Findings of the study, published in the journal Health Psychology suggests an interlink between mental and physical health and support the emerging integrated management for the prevention of mental and physical multimorbidities.

Xiaolin Xu, a PhD scholar at the University of Queensland in Australia, and colleagues investigated the association between elevated depressive symptoms and the development and progression of physical multimorbidity in middle-aged women.

"These days, many people suffer from multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer," said Xu. "We looked at how women progress in the development of these chronic diseases before and after the onset of depressive symptoms."

For the study, the researchers followed a total of 7,407 women aged 45–50 years from 1996 to 2016

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health followed healthy, middle-aged women with no previous diagnosis of depression or chronic illness over 20 years. Data on depressive symptoms and chronic physical conditions were updated every 3 years, with depressive symptoms assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression scale. A 1-to-1 matched cohort analysis was conducted to compare the cumulative incidence and odds of physical multimorbidity between women with (depressed cohort) and women without (nondepressed cohort) elevated depressive symptoms, adjusted for sociodemographic and health behavioral factors.

Key findings of the study include:

• Over 20 years of follow-up, 3,199 women (43.2%) reported elevated depressive symptoms. Of these, 2,035 (63.6%) developed physical multimorbidity.


• After the onset of elevated depressive symptoms, women had a more than 4-fold increase in the cumulative incidence of multimorbidity.


• Women from the depressed group were 1.8 times more likely to have multiple chronic health conditions before they first experienced depressive symptoms.


• After women started experiencing these symptoms, they were 2.4 times more likely to suffer from multiple chronic conditions compared to women without depressive symptoms.

These findings help strengthen healthcare professionals understanding of mental and physical health.

"Experiencing depressive symptoms appeared to amplify the risk of chronic illness," Xu said. "Inflammation in the body has been linked to the development of both depression and chronic physical diseases."

"Chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, are also commonly associated with depression," Xu said.

"Healthcare professionals need to know that clinical and sub-clinical depression (elevated depressive symptoms) can be linked to other chronic physical conditions," he said.

When treating patients for these symptoms, healthcare professionals must realize these people are at risk of developing further chronic illness, researchers said.

Women with both conditions were more likely to come from low-income households, be overweight and inactive, smoke tobacco and drink alcohol. "Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and reducing harmful behaviors could help prevent and slow the progression of multiple chronic diseases," Xu said.

For detailed study log on to http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000738