Regular Research ArticlesDepressive Symptoms Are Associated With Subclinical Cerebrovascular Disease Among Healthy Older Women, Not Men
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 101 healthy, community-dwelling older adults (age 54–81 years; 58% men, 89% white), with available data to date, who had participated in an ongoing parent study of relations of cardiovascular risk factors to structural and functional neuroimaging and cognitive performance. Participants were recruited by newspaper and other local advertisement, from the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center and by general advertisement
RESULTS
Sample characteristics are displayed in Table 1. On average, participants reported relatively low levels of depressive symptoms. An independent samples t test revealed that levels of depressive symptoms reported by men and women did not significantly differ (t[99] = 1.06, p >0.05). Additional t tests revealed that men had higher SBP (t[99] = −3.44, p <0.01), higher VO2max (t[99] = −3.86, p <0.01), higher fasting glucose (t[99] = −2.55, p <0.01), greater ventricular enlargement (t[99] = −4.80, p
DISCUSSION
Our study is novel in its simultaneous examination of sex differences relative to a) the continuum of depressive symptoms associated with nonclinical depression and b) subclinical levels of cerebrovascular disease and brain atrophy among relatively healthy older adults. We found sex to be a significant effect modifier of the relation between depressive symptoms and SCD, such that depressive symptoms and SCD were significantly associated among women but not men. Among women, depressive symptoms
SUMMARY
In summary, depressive symptoms and SCD were strongly associated among our sample of community-dwelling, relatively healthy older women but not men. Depressive symptoms and global brain atrophy were unrelated in both men and women. Depressive symptoms may play a greater role in the development of SCD among women due to greater cumulative lifetime exposure to depressive symptoms, or women may be more vulnerable than men to the affective effects of SCD. Regardless, women may be at greater risk
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2016, Frontiers in NeuroendocrinologyCitation Excerpt :A systematic review of the literature found that the prevalence of depression among women is higher, especially in the inpatient stroke populations (Poynter et al., 2009), and a major independent predictor of PSD is female gender among others, like current smoking at stroke onset, mild global cognitive impairments, and stroke recurrence (Shi et al., 2015). Presence of subclinical cerebrovascular disease, as determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is associated to depressive symptoms in relatively healthy older women, but not men (Wendell et al., 2010). Women are twice as likely to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders as men (Bangasser and Valentino, 2012).
Brain hyperintensity location determines outcome in the triad of impaired cognition, physical health and depressive symptoms: A cohort study in late life
2016, Archives of Gerontology and GeriatricsCitation Excerpt :In particular, the negative relationship between basal ganglia and brainstem hyperintensities and depressive symptoms is mediated by the negative effect of these deep brain lesions on physical health, and to a lesser extent, their negative effect on cognitive ability. The negative effect of subcortical and periventricular hyperintensities on depressive symptoms reported by other groups (Ikram et al., 2010; Wendell et al., 2010) was not found. However, the model did confirm the relationship of greater hyperintensity burden and lower cognitive ability, which may explain the observations of other groups that have not accounted for cognition in their analyses.
Depressive symptoms, symptom dimensions, and white matter lesion volume in older adults: A longitudinal study
2014, American Journal of Geriatric PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :White matter changes are also common in late-life depression and are often observed as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), bright spots observable on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that are thought to reflect vascular and/or demyelinating brain disease.5,6 Studies using both subjective ratings of WMH severity and quantitative measurement of white matter lesion (WML) volume have documented greater severity of white matter changes in older depressed adults compared with elderly control subjects.7–13 Moreover, there is evidence that the severity of WMLs is greater in late-onset versus early-onset geriatric depression.6
Perceived stress is associated with subclinical cerebrovascular disease in older adults
2014, American Journal of Geriatric PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :Our results, however, are consistent with smaller clinical studies that have examined the association of MRI markers to other psychosocial factors. Indeed, a number of studies have linked decreased hippocampal volume to depressive episodes25–27 and psychiatric conditions.28–30 Other studies examining late-life depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder have demonstrated an association between these conditions and smaller amygdala volumes.31–34
Rapid Cycling and lower hemoglobin in elderly bipolar patients with brain atrophy
2013, Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine(Taiwan)Citation Excerpt :All the images were read by one board-certified neuroradiologist who was blinded to clinical details. Sizes of the ventricles and sulcal widening were rated according to the coding scale: 0 = absent; 1 = mild; 2 = moderate; and 3 = severe.8 The global cortical atrophy was assessed visually based on consideration of the width of sulci and volume of gyri in all lobes of cerebrum.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R29 AG15112, 2RO1 AG015112, Bristol Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, Inc., NIH K24 AG00930, a VA Merit Grant, the Department of Veterans Affairs Baltimore Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, and the Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Partial results of this article were previously presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Montreal, Canada, April 2009.