Depression and dementia: two sides of the coin?
AzimovaY.E. ¹, IshchenkoK.A. ¹, RachinA.P. ², GusevaM.E. <sup>3

1</sup> Russian Scientific Center of Rehabilitation and Resort Medicine, Moscow 
² Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow
³ University Headache Clinic, Moscow 

Depression and cognitive disorders often coexist in clinical practice. On the one hand, depression can be the first symptom of developing dementia in Alzheimer's disease or chronic cerebral ischemia. On the other hand, cognitive dysfunction is the obligatory part of depression.
The paper presents differential diagnosis of these conditions. Cognitive dysfunctions nature is discussed (e.g. monoamines deficiency or hippocampus atrophy) as well as main features of clinical symptoms: poor concentration, memory loss, decreased psychomotor speed, executive function disorders are specific for cognitive dysfunction while less severe depression, atypical course, inability of patients to describe symptoms in details are more typical for Alzheimer's disease. Specific diagnostic tests are proposed to reveal cognitive dysfunction in patients with depression (Scale for depression assessment in dementia) and depression in patients with dementia (e.g., Cornell scale).
The paper also presents treatment approaches of depression depending on presence of cognitive dysfunctions and depressive episode. Special attention is paid to non-drug therapy (cognitive-behavioral, creative art  and color therapies, ergotherapy, a diet rich in polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins and folic acid, tryptophan, slow-carb diet).

Key words: depression, cognitive dysfunctions, dementia, antidepressants

For citation: Azimova Y.E., Ishchenko K.A., Rachin A.P., Guseva M.E. Depression and dementia: two sides of the coin? // RMJ. Neurology. 2016. № 24. P. 1616–1619.