Lifestyle and depression in older adults

A five-year study of 526 older men, between the ages of 70 and 89 in France, Italy and Holland looked into some of the links between diet and lifestyle factors and late-life depression. 11% of the men developed depression over the course of the study. The risk factors for depression at the five-year follow-up included already being depressed at the start of the study and a fall in cholesterol levels. Things that protected against later-life depression included physical activity and moderate alcohol intake

Bots, Sinnika ... [et al] - Lifestyle and diet-related factors in late-life depression: a five-year follow-up of elderly European men - the FINE study International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2008, 23(5), 478-484