Inflammatory and Metabolic Abnormalities Predict Poor Response to Antidepressants
There is mounting evidence that inflammation and metabolic problems are related to depression. A recent study by Vogelzangs et al. in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology examined 313 patients being treated for depression to see whether levels of inflammatory markers in the blood and metabolic factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference predicted whether those patients would still (or again) be diagnosable with depression two years later.
Several factors predicted later depression, including high levels of the inflammatory marker interleukin-6, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, higher than normal triglycerides, and high blood glucose (hyperglycemia).
People who had four or more types of inflammatory or metabolic abnormalities had almost twice the odds of having chronic depression. Among those study participants who had only recently begun taking antidepressant medication, having four or more of these risk factors made them almost 7 times more likely to be depressed during follow-up.
One explanation for the connection between inflammatory and metabolic dysregulation and depression is that inflammation and metabolic problems worsen and complicate a patient’s depression and reduce the patient’s responsiveness to traditional antidepressants. Alternative ways of treating these patients aimed at their inflammation and metabolism may be necessary.
Cinnamon’s Positive Effects in Type II Diabetes
Cinnamon has multiple positive effects that were affirmed in a meta-analysis by Robert W. Allen et al. in Annals of Family Medicine in 2013. Cinnamon lowered blood sugar, insulin levels, triglycerides, and low-density lipoproteins (“bad” cholesterol) while increasing high-density lipoproteins (“good” cholesterol). Cinnamon did not lower hemoglobin A1C, a global measure of glucose dysregulation, but that result could be explained by the short durations of some of the studies included in the meta-analysis.
Editor’s Note: Cinnamon’s role in the fight against type II diabetes remains to be determined, but a little bit may help those with diabetes or at risk for it. The researchers who produced the meta-analysis could not make a recommendation about how much cinnamon to add to one’s diet because the studies included in the meta-analysis had explored a wide range of doses.
