Frequency of hospital admission for severe depression may increase risk of dementia

The frequency of admission to hospital for severe clinical depression or bipolar disorder (manic depression) may increase
the risk of developing dementia, suggests a study in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.


The authors base their findings on admissions to hospital for severe clinical depression or bipolar disorder between 1970 and
1999 in Denmark, where information on psychiatric illness requiring hospital admission is kept on a national register.



In all, almost 19,000 patients with depression and just over 4,000 with bipolar disorder, who were admitted to hospital at
least once for their condition, were included in the study.


Analysis of the data showed that a diagnosis of dementia was strongly related to the number of previous admissions to
hospital for either severe depression or bipolar disorder.


Just under 2% (337) of patients with severe depression and just over 2% (97) of those with bipolar disorder were diagnosed
with dementia on a subsequent re-admission.


On average, the risk of being diagnosed with dementia increased 13% with every admission to hospital for severe depression,
and by 6% with every admission for bipolar disorder.


The findings held true, even after adjusting for factors likely to influence the results, such as age and gender.


The authors suggest that repeated episodes of depression or bipolar disorder may permanently alter brain tissue (the "scar
hypothesis"), as has been suggested in previous research.


The results point to the importance of early and sustained treatment to prevent worsening of symptoms, they conclude.



Contact:

Dr Lars Vedel Kessing, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tel: + 45 354 56237 or 45 367 73766

Email: lars.kessingrh.dk


Click here to view the paper in full:

press.psprings.co.uk/jnnp/december/1662_jn31773.pdf


[Does the risk of developing dementia increase with the number of episodes in patients with depressive disorder and in
patients with bipolar disorder?

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004; 75: 1662-6]


JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY NEUROSURGERY AND PSYCHIATRY


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