Health & Well-Being-Depression and diabetic heart disease
Symptoms of depression — not high blood sugar — predict coronary heart disease (CHD) among people with Type 1 diabetes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) in a report published in the January 2000 issue of Atherosclerosis.
"We believe this is the first study to show that depressive symptomology is linked to coronary heart disease in Type 1 diabetes," says Trevor J. Orchard, MD, professor of epidemiology at GSPH and principal investigator in the study. "These results also provide further evidence that blood sugar levels fail to strongly predict the likelihood of this complication."
Investigators say they were not surprised to identify increased depressive symptoms as a risk factor, since depression is emerging as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in the general population. "But the strength of the link was surprising," says Orchard. "In addition, these results suggest that the high blood sugar association with the development of coronary heart disease among Type 1 diabetics is complex."
Type 1 diabetes is the more severe, insulin-dependent form of the disease, affecting nearly 1 million Americans.
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