Depression as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: Evidence and role of Nursing

Abstract

Introduction: Depression and dementia are two diseases with a high prevalence worldwide and many features in common. Dementia is a progressive disorder being Alzheimer's Disease the most frequent type. On the other hand, depression represents the first worldwide cause of disability. The objective of this review is to analyze depression as a risk factor in the development of Alzheimer's Disease and to highlight the role of nurses regarding prevention in this field. Methods: A bibliographic systematic search in diverse data bases was done. It is necessary to highlight PubMed as the main data base from which the majority of articles included were obtained. Results and discussion: There are mainly three hypotheses about the relationship between depression and dementia: depression as a risk factor, depression as a prodrome or depression and dementia as two independent pathologies. Moreover, there are a lot of aspects that must be taken into account in each case adding more complexity to the investigations. At the neurobiological level there is also evidence of common pathological mechanisms for both diseases. In addition, prevention has to be emphasized as a key point in the treatment of these disorders and nurses play a crucial role in early diagnosis and health education. Conclusions: Depression as a risk factor to Alzheimer's Disease has been demonstrated in many studies. However, there is not a conclusive agreement and, therefore, it is crucial to continue investigating the relation between depression and dementia.