(File Photo)

   BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Depression appears to raise the risk for diabetes in elderly people, according to a study in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.

    "Older adults who report high levels of depressive symptoms are more likely to develop diabetes over time than older adults who have lower depressive symptoms," said lead researcher Mercedes R. Carnethon of Northwestern University.

    "We need to carefully evaluate older adults for depressive symptoms, and they need to be taken seriously because of the potential impact," she added.

    Unlike some other studies examining a link between depression and diabetes, this one looked at the effects not only of single bouts of depression but also of chronic depression and depression that worsened over time. It found an increased risk for diabetes in each of those scenarios.

    In the study, Carnethon's group collected data on almost 4,700 people 65 years of age and older who were not diabetic when the study began in 1989.

    Over the following 10 years, participants were evaluated for symptoms of depression linked to changes in mood, irritability, calorie intake, concentration and sleep.

   "People who report higher depressive symptoms may not take as good a care of themselves as they should," Carnethon said.

    "For example, they may be less physically active, and thus more likely to gain weight, which is the primary risk factor for diabetes," she added.

    But the study statistically accounted for known lifestyle risk factors for diabetes like being overweight and sedentary, and still found that depression increased the risk of diabetes.

    Carnethon said the findings suggest depression may play a role in causing diabetes, while biological factors could also be at play. These include increased levels of blood markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein, which has been linked to both diabetes and depression.

    Diabetes is marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in the production or action of insulin, which allows glucose to enter the body's cells for use as fuel.

    Howere, more research is needed to identify conclusively whether depression increases diabetes risk through excessive caloric consumption and/or through sedentary behavior.

    (Agencies)