Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:08:58.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Aetiology of late-life depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Depressive disorder has no single cause. Arguably, in old age it is a more heterogeneous condition than in earlier adult life, in both clinical presentation and causation. A broad distinction is often made between early- and late-onset depression in later life. The aetiology of these may differ and is currently the subject of new research.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1999 

References

Alexopoulos, G. S., Lieberman, K. W. & Young, R. C. (1984) Platelet MAO activity and age at onset of depression in elderly depressed women American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 12761278.Google Scholar
Alexopoulos, G. S., Meyers, B. S., Young, R. C. et al (1997) ‘Vascular depression’ hypothesis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 915922.Google Scholar
Ames, D., Ashby, D., Mann, A. H. et al (1988) Psychiatric illness in elderly residents of part III homes in one London borough: prognosis and review. Age and Ageing, 17, 249256.Google Scholar
Baldwin, R. C. (1993). Late life depression and structural brain changes: A review of recent magnetic resonance imaging research. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 8, 115123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, R. C. & Tomenson, B. (1995) Depression in later life. A comparison of symptoms and risk factors in early and late onset cases. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 649652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ballard, C. G., Eastwood, C., Gahir, M. et al (1996) A follow-up study of depression in the carers of dementia sufferers. British Medical Journal, 312, 947.Google Scholar
Banerjee, S., Shamash, K., Macdonald, A. J. D. et al (1996) Randomised controlled trial of intervention by psycho-geriatric team on depression in frail elderly people. British Medical Journal, 313, 10581061.Google Scholar
Bench, C. J., Friston, K. J., Brown, R. G. et al (1992) The anatomy of depression – focal abnormalities of cerebral blood flow in major depression. Psychological Medicine, 22, 607615.Google Scholar
Bergmann, K. (1978) Neurosis and personality disorder in old age. In Studies in Geriatric Psychiatry (eds Isaacs, A. D. & Post, F.) pp. 4175. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Carroll, B. J. Feinberg, M. Greden, J. F. et al (1981) A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1522.Google Scholar
Cervilla, J. A. & Prince, M. J. (1997) Cognitive impairment and social distress as different pathways to depression in the elderly: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12, 9951000.Google Scholar
Coffey, C. E., Weiner, R. D., Djang, W. T. et al (1991) Brain anatomic effects of electroconvulsive therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 10131021.Google Scholar
Coffey, C. E., Wilkinson, W. E., Weiner, R. D. et al (1993) Quantitataive cerebral anatomy in depression: a controlled magnetic resonance study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 715.Google Scholar
Devanand, D. P., Andrew, J. W., Hutchinson, E. R. et al (1994) Does ECT alter brain structure? American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 957970.Google Scholar
Forstl, H., Burns, A., Luthbert, P. et al (1992) Clinical and neuropathological correlates of depression in Alzheimer's disease. Psychological Medicine, 22, 877884.Google Scholar
Fujikawa, T., Yamawaki, S. & Touhouda, Y. (1993) Incidence of silent cerebral infarction in patients with major depression. Stroke, 24, 16311634.Google Scholar
Green, B. H., Copeland, J. R. M. & Dewey, M. E. (1992) Risk factors for depression in elderly people: a prospective study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 86, 213217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopkinson, G. (1964) A genetic study of affective illness in patients over 50. British Journal of Psychiatry, 110, 244254.Google Scholar
Karege, F. Bovier, P. & Gaillard, J. M. (1989) Plasma MHPG and age of onset in depressed patients. Psychiatry Research, 30, 103105.Google Scholar
Karlsson, I. (1993) Neurotransmitter changes in aging and dementia. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 47 (suppl.), 4144.Google Scholar
Kivela, S.-L., Pahkala, K. & Laippala, P. (1988) Prevalence of depression in an elderly Finnish population. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 78, 401413.Google Scholar
Koenig, H. G., George, L. K. & Peerson, B. L. (1998) Religiosity and remission of depression in medically ill older patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 536542.Google Scholar
Krishnan, K. K. R. (1991) Organic bases of depression in the elderly. Annual Reviews of Medicine, 42, 261266.Google Scholar
Krishnan, K. K. R., McDonald, W. M., Escalona, P. R. et al (1992) Magnetic resonance imaging of the caudate nuclei in depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 553557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, A., Miller, D., Ewbank, D., Yousen, D. et al (1997a) Quantitative anatomical measures and comorbid medical illness in late-life depression. American Journal of geriatric Psychiatry 5, 1525.Google Scholar
Kumar, A., Schweizer, E., Zhisong, M. S. et al (1997b) Neuroanatomic substrates of minor depression. Archives of Neurology, 54, 613617.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leake, A. & Ferrier, I. C. (1993) Alterations in neuropeptides in aging and disease. Drugs and Aging, 3, 408427.Google Scholar
Lyness, J. M., Caine, E. D., Cox, C. et al (1998) Cerebrovascular risk factors and late-life major depression. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 6, 513.Google Scholar
Murphy, E. (1982) Social origins of depression in old age British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 135142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, J. T., Ames, D., Schwietzer, I. et al (1997) Clinical, magnetic resonance imaging and endocrine differences between delusional non-delusional depression in the elderly. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 12, 211218.3.0.CO;2-K>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pálsson, S., Aevarsson, O. & Skoog, I. (1999) Depression, cerebral atrophy, cognitive performance and incidence of dementia. Population study of 85-year-olds. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 249253.Google Scholar
Prince, M. J., Harwood, R. H., Thomas, A et al (1998) A prospective population-based cohort study of the effects of disablement and social milieu on the onset and maintenance of late-life depression. The Gospel Oak Project VII. Psychological Medicine, 28, 337350.Google Scholar
Raadsheer, F. C., Joop, J., Van Heerikhuize, J. J. et al (1995) Corticotropin-releasing hormone mRNA levels in the paraventricular nucleus of patients with Alzheimer's disease and depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 152, 13721376.Google Scholar
Robert, R. E., Kaplan, G. A., Shema, S. J. et al (1997) Does growing old increase the risk for depression? Americam Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 13841390.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H. A., Prohovnik, I., Moeller, J. R. et al (1990) Regional cerebral blood flow in mood disorders 1. Comparison of major depressives and normal controls at rest. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 6070.Google Scholar
Schneider, L. S. (1992) Psychobiologic features of geriatric affective disorders. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 8, 253265.Google Scholar
Schoevers, R. A., Beekman, A. T. F., Deeg, D. J. H. et al (1999) Risk factors for depression in later life: results of a prospective community based study (AMSTEL). Journal of Affective Disorders, in press.Google Scholar
Simpson, S., Baldwin, R. C., Jackson, A. et al (1998) Is subcortical disease associated with a poor response to antidepressant treatment? Neurological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings. Psychological Medicine, 28, 10151026.Google Scholar
Sparks, L. D. (1989) Aging and Alzheimer's disease. Altered cortical serotonergic binding. Archives of Neurology, 46, 138140.Google Scholar
Veith, R. C. & Raskind, M. A. (1988) The neurobiology of aging: does it predispose to depression. Neurobiology of Aging, 9, 101117.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.