Depression Linked to Subclinical Cerebrovascular Disease in Older Women
Last Updated: 2010-03-29 16:21:03 -0400 (Reuters Health)
"In women, higher levels of depressive symptoms may play a role in the development of subclinical vascular disease of the brain, or women may be more vulnerable to the emotional effects of subclinical vascular disease of the brain," lead investigator Dr. Carrington Rice Wendell, from the
Dr. Wendell and colleagues studied 101 healthy older adults (mean age, 67 years) to examine whether depressive symptoms were disproportionately related to subclinical cerebrovascular disease in women versus men. The participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The MRI scans were rated by a neuroradiologist for markers of subclinical disease, including periventricular and deep white matter hyperintensities, and number of silent infarcts. The scans were also rated for markers of brain atrophy, including ventricular enlargement and sulcal widening.
On average, subjects had relatively low levels of depressive symptoms. On multiple regression analyses (adjusted for age, education, systolic blood pressure, glucose, maximal oxygen consumption, body mass index, alcohol use and score on the Mini-Mental State Exam), gender was a significant effect modifier of depressive symptoms in the prediction of subclinical cerebrovascular disease.
Gender-stratified regression analyses showed a strong relation between depressive symptoms and subclinical cerebrovascular disease in women (p < 0.01) but not men (p > 0.05).
Depressive symptoms did not predict brain atrophy, however, regardless of inclusion of sex as an effect modifier.
"It is worth noting that these findings were obtained in a sample of relatively healthy older adults that did not have a self-reported diagnosis of depression," Dr. Wendell explained. "In other words, even those individuals who reported relatively higher levels of depressive symptoms would still be characterized as within normal limits. Thus, this research may be relevant even to older women who have not experienced clinically diagnosed depression."
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2010.
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