DALLAS, Sep 10, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. researchers say one in five
patients with chronic kidney disease may be depressed.
The study, published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, also found
kidney patients with diabetes are twice as likely to be depressed as those
without diabetes.
When structured clinical interviews were conducted for 272 chronic kidney
disease patients -- all veterans and all voluntary study participants --the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas researchers found 57
patients currently undergoing a major depressive episode.
Study lead author Dr. Susan Hedayati suggests the high 21 percent depression
rate among kidney disease patients may be linked to other occurring conditions
-- that resulted in progressive kidney disease -- such as diabetes and
atherosclerotic vascular disease.
"Alternatively, patients such as diabetics, who are depressed, may develop
progressive kidney disease because of non-adherence to medications and
physicians' advice," Hedayati said in a statement.
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