Data collected during a recent study by researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and published in the journal Urology, show a significant link between benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and depression.
Researchers have been aware for a long time that depression is a common illness that accompanies inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Recent evidence has suggested that depression also might be associated with BPH, another disease with inflammatory components.
Studies have not directly examined the relationship between depression and BPH explains study investigator, Viraj A. Master, MD, associate director in the Department of Urology at Emory. “BPH and depression both affect a significant number of men worldwide. This is the first study to show a direct association between the two illnesses.â€
Study data showed that almost three-quarters of the participants without depression presented with mild or moderate symptoms, while more than two thirds of the depressed patients had moderate or severe symptoms.
The data raises questions about whether the severity of symptoms is due to depression, or if the depression is causing the symptoms to worsen, says lead author, Timothy V. Johnson, MD. He points out that several studies have demonstrated depression in the setting of cardiovascular disease and cancer actually worsens these chronic disease states.
The study also raises the question of whether or not the depression simply causes patients to perceive their symptoms to be much worse than patients with the same degree of illness.
The researchers stress that further studies are imperative to address comorbid depression in the presence of BPH so that treatment can be appropriately managed.
Timothy V. Johnson, lead author, was an Emory School of Medicine student when the trial was conducted. Johnson is currently a resident at Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ga.
Other investigators include Ammara Abbasi, Samantha S. Ehrlich, Renee S. Kleris, Siri L. Chirumamilla, Evan D. Schoenberg, Ashli Owen-Smith, Charles L. Raison and Virag A. Master from the Departments of Urology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, and the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.
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