[NYAPRS Enews] Study: Depression, Overeating & Alcohol Use Intertwined In Young Women

[Matt Canuteson]

Overeating, Alcohol Abuse And Depression Intertwined In Young Women


Medical News Today September 11th 2009  

 

On TV, Sex and the City makes regular Cosmo-drinking sessions seem like
a glamorous, harmless pastime. In reality, though, excessive alcohol use
can relate to overeating and depression in young women, according to the
results of a new study.

 

"Anyone who has been touched by depression, obesity or alcoholism knows
that these disorders on their own can be devastating. When they're
combined, these disorders become more costly, more difficult to treat
and more impairing," said Carolyn McCarty, Ph.D., lead study author and
a research associate professor at the University of Washington and
Seattle Children's Research Institute.

 
In the study in the September/October issue of the journal General
Hospital Psychiatry, the researchers surveyed 393 men and 383 women at
ages 24, 27 and 30 about their weight, alcohol use and depression
symptoms within the last year. 


"When you look across time, alcohol use and obesity predicted later
depression. The big picture here is that these disorders, though they're
different in manifestation and symptoms, appear to be related for some
groups of women." McCarty said.

 
The researchers found that women who had alcohol use disorders at age 24
were more than three times as likely to be obese at age 27, compared to
women who did not. 


In addition, women who were obese at age 27 were more than twice as
likely to be depressed at age 30, and women who were depressed at age 27
had an increased risk of alcohol disorders at age 30. For young men, the
disorders did not appear to have similar connections over time. 


"From a clinical or health care provider perspective, when you think
about what to do about one of these problems, you have to think about
what to do about the other," said Gregory Simon, M.D., a psychiatrist
and researcher at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle.
"Being overweight is the norm among people who are depressed, so when
helping people with depression, you've got to think about how their
weight is related." Simon had no affiliation with the study.

 

Although she noted more research is necessary to understand why these
disorders are more related in women, McCarty suggested that women might
be more likely to ruminate, or "chew" on problems in response to stress,
which could increase the likelihood of developing depression, eating
problems and substance abuse. Different biological pathways in the brain
might also play a role. 


General Hospital Psychiatry is a peer-reviewed research journal
published bimonthly by Elsevier Science. For information about the
journal, contact Wayne Katon, M.D., at (206) 543-7177. 


McCarty CA, et al. Longitudinal associations among depression, obesity
and alcohol use disorders in young adulthood. Gen Hosp Psychiatry,
31(5), 2009.

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/163608.php

 

 

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