Nedley Health Report

Finnish researchers have reported that a cluster of heart disease and diabetes risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome may be a “predisposing factor” for the development of depression. Non-depressed individuals who were found to have the metabolic syndrome at the start of the Finnish study were twice as likely to have symptoms of depression at a follow-up to the study seven years later. Components of metabolic syndrome include:

• high cholesterol
• high triglycerides
• low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol
• high blood sugar
• high blood pressure, and
• excess belly fat Excess belly fat also increases the risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s dementia.

In a report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (February 2008), the researchers warned the increasing incidences of metabolic syndrome will likely result in an increase in future cases of depression as well. Bottom line: Any of the bullet-point factors of metabolic syndrome listed above increases the risk of depression, and a combination of those factors increases the risk even further.