Depressive Symptoms, Insulin Resistance, and Risk of Diabetes in Women at Midlife
Response to Pouwer and de Jonge
- Susan A. Everson-Rose, PHD, MPH123,
- Karen A. Matthews, PHD4,
- Javier I. Torréns, MD5,
- Joyce T. Bromberger, PHD4,
- Howard M. Kravitz, DO, MPH16 and
- Peter M. Meyer, PHD1
- 1Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- 2Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- 3Department of Psychology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- 4Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 5Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, New Jersey School of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark, New Jersey
- 6Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Address correspondence to Susan A. Everson-Rose, PhD, MPH, Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, 1700 W. Van Buren St., Suite 470, Chicago, IL 60612. E-mail: susan_everson{at}rush.edu
Pouwer and de Jonge (1) raise two interesting points regarding our findings on depressive symptoms, insulin resistance, and diabetes risk (2). First, they suggest that insulin resistance may increase the risk for depression. This may be a plausible hypothesis, but it is an unlikely explanation for our findings. Participants were excluded from our analyses if they had overt diabetes (fasting blood glucose of ≥126 mg/dl or a self-reported history of diabetes) at the baseline examination. …
