A just-released three-year study finds type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix.

Researchers found patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared with patients with type 2 diabetes alone.

Researchers at the University of Washington and at Group Health Cooperative, a large, Seattle-based health plan, surveyed and then followed 4,154 patients with type 2 diabetes. The patients completed written questionnaires and then automated diagnostic, laboratory, and pharmacy data were collected from the HMO.

The researchers also reviewed Washington state mortality data to analyze diabetes complications and deaths. They found depression is common among people who have type 2 diabetes and is strongly linked with increased mortality.

But the researchers said more work is needed to untangle the cause-and-effect relationships among depression, behavior, diabetes complications and mortality.

The results appear in the November edition of Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association. 

　　中文：

　　日前公布的美国一项医学研究结果显示，同时患有2型糖尿病和抑郁症的患者可能会面临更大的生命危险。

　　据合众社10月26日援引最新一期美国《糖尿病护理》杂志的报道说，华盛顿大学及“健康合作计划”的研究人员最近发现，那些同时患有2型糖尿病和轻度或重度抑郁症的人的死亡率要更高一些。

　　研究人员发现，抑郁症在2型糖尿病患者中比较普遍，并与死亡率的增加有着很大的联系。

　　研究人员是在对4154名2型糖尿病患者进行了3年跟踪调查和研究，并统计了华盛顿州的死亡率数据之后得出这一结论的。但研究人员同时表示，他们还需要进行更为深入的研究以解开抑郁症、患者行为、糖尿病并发症以及死亡率之间的因果关系。