The Integrating Depression and Diabetes Treatment (Independent) study compared integrated care with standard care in 404 diabetes patients in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Visakhapatnam with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms over a two-year period and found major improvements in the group receiving the integrated approach. The improvements were most pronounced in patients with the worst parameters at the start of the study. “There is a bidirectional relationship between depression and diabetes, as chronic diseases like diabetes can lead to depression, and vice versa. In India, close to 70 million people have diabetes and another 40 million are insulin-resistant, which is a precursor to diabetes. More than four in five diabetics on medication in India do not have their blood glucose under control, according to Dr Mohan’s DiabCare India study 2011.

Source: Hindustan Times August 18, 2020 17:54 UTC