structural:expansion, information:highlighting
Causes and risk factors

Research suggests that individuals with late life depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease, vascular dementia, and all-cause dementia. Dementia, however, can present early in its disease course with depressive symptoms, meaning that this association could actually be reflecting that dementia causes late life depression. Studies that have directly tried to determine whether depression is an independent risk factor for dementia have led to inconclusive results. Guidelines exist to help clinicians distinguish dementia versus a primary psychiatric disorder as the cause of a late-life depression diagnosis.