Depression and Dementia

Two new reports are out this week linking depression to Alzheimer’s disease. One Dutch study from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam claims that people over 60 who suffered from depression were more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s, and people who experienced depression before 60 were four times more likely to get the disease. A second study from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago also found that people with depression at the beginning of the study were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

Even though the two studies point to a link, researchers still believe they haven’t found the smoking gun that depression and Alzheimer’s are connected. Regardless, getting treatment for depression is the best way to improve your overall mental healthy and possibly ward off dementia later in life. According to Andrew Jones, M.D., director of the Women’s Health Institute in Texas and author of The All-Natural Cure for Depression, alternative remedies can be just as effective at treating depression as traditional medical treatments. [The Washington Post]