Insulin resistance doubles the risk of major depressive disorder, a Stanford study found | News Center

As part of a multicenter study within the research network Rasgon, established in 2015, scientists from an ongoing longitudinal study that closely monitors more than 3,000 participants to learn about the causes and consequences of depression. Data obtained: Dutch Depression Study and Anxiety. Rasgon is the Principal Investigator at Stanford University and Penninx is the Principal Investigator overall.

“The Dutch study has provided us with a great opportunity as we have closely monitored a large target population for nine years and it is still rising,” said Watson.

Determining insulin resistance

The Stanford team analyzed data from 601 men and women who worked as control subjects in a Dutch study. At the time of admission, I did not suffer from depression or anxiety. Their average age was 41 years.

The team measured three proxies of insulin resistance. The ratio of fasting blood glucose, waist circumference, circulating triglyceride levels to circulating high-density lipoprotein (HDL known as “good” cholesterol).

They scrutinized the data to see if subjects found to be insulin resistant had an increased risk of developing major depressive disorder for nine years. For all three measurements, the answer was yes. We found that a modest increase in insulin resistance as measured by the ratio of triglyceride to HDL was associated with an 89% increase in the new case rate of major depressive disorder. Similarly, for every 5 centimeters of abdominal fat, the rate of depression increases by 11%, and when fasting blood glucose increases by 18 milligrams per deciliter of blood, the rate of depression increases by 37%.

“Some subjects were already insulin resistant at the beginning of the study. There was no way to know when they first became insulin resistant,” Watson said. “I wanted to be more careful in determining how long it would take for the connection to start.”

that’s why, The researchers limited the next step in the analysis to about 400 subjects who had never experienced major depression and showed no signs of insulin resistance at the start of the study. Within the first two years of the study, nearly 100 of these participants became insulin resistant. The researchers compared the likelihood of this group developing major depressive disorder over the next seven years with that of participants who were not yet insulin resistant at two years.

The number of participants was too small to establish statistical significance for waist circumference and triglyceride to HDL ratio, but fasting blood glucose results are not only statistically significant, but can occur by accident. It means low sex, but it has clinical significance. Important enough to worry: People who developed prediabetes within the first two years of the study had a 9-year follow-up milepost compared to those who showed normal fasting blood glucose test results twice. By now, the risk of major depression was 2.66 times higher. Year points.

Conclusion: Insulin resistance is a powerful risk factor for serious problems such as depression as well as type 2 diabetes.

“It’s time for providers to assess the metabolic status of people suffering from mood disorders by assessing the mood of patients with metabolic disorders such as obesity and high blood pressure,” said Lasgon. “To prevent depression, doctors need to check a patient’s insulin sensitivity. These tests are readily available and inexpensive in laboratories around the world. After all, we are lifelong debilitating. It can reduce the onset of sexual illness. “

Rasgon is a member of Utsai Institute of Neuroscience In Stanford, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, And that Stanford Institute for Maternal and Child Health..

The other Stanford co-author of this study is Lexi Nutkiewicz, a former clinical research coordinator. Julia Simard, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, ScD. Dr. Victor Henderson, MD, Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Neurology and Neuroscience.

Other researchers at the University of Amsterdam Medical Center and researchers at Rockefeller University contributed to this study.

This study was partially funded by the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Research Consortium.