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Association between major depressive disorder and Alzheimer’s disease
Joint Event on World Summit on Psychiatry, Mental Health Nursing and Healthcare & International Conference on Applied Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health
Statement of the Problem: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) causes significant negative consequences in daily activities and
behavior and it is one of the most frequent behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The association between MDD and AD
is corroborated by several studies and these authors state that depressed patients, when compared to a control population that didn’t
have a diagnosis of depression, were double the risk associated with dementia. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship
between MDD and AD through an analysis of the scientific literature.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: A literature review was undertaken in the PubMed and Ebsco databases. Some publications
were selected between 2004 and 2018.
Findings: Some authors suggest that this is due to neurological impairment resulting from brain changes that occur during depressive
episodes. Others associate this greater vulnerability to neurodegenerative symptoms with the individual's genetic predisposition to
depression. However, the main pathogenesis of this association remains uncertain, suggesting the existence of several causal factors
for the impairment of executive functions in these diseases. Studies point out that there is also a relationship with other neurological
disorders such as Parkinson's Disease and Epilepsy. A mouse study conducted in China corroborates findings from previous studies
in Denmark and Spain. In these, the patient with MDD has a greater susceptibility to the development of Alzheimer's. A case study
from the literature has further demonstrated that this risk is increased according to the number of depressive episodes.
Conclusion & Significance: There is a high comorbidity between MDD and AD. This association is multifactorial, including genetic
factors and brain changes, but the main cause remains unknown. TDM is related to neurological degeneration in the AD and also in
other disorders. Susceptibility to the development of AD is proportional to the number of depressive episodes.