Depression is an important risk factor for heart attack
Depressed mood and hopelessness increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and aggravate its course. Large studies have shown that only the depression increases the risk of a heart attack by 64 percent. Depression it one of the five most important factors for CHD. This is due to the unhealthy lifestyle. Researchers have now also damaging immunological reactions and increased clotting tendency measured.
"Depressiveness is just as important for the development of heart disease as the risk factors high blood pressure, elevated blood lipid levels, smoking and type 2 diabetes are," emphasizes Professor Dr. phil. dr medical Karl-Heinz Ladwig from the Institute for Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich. According to Ladwig, for example, in 45 to 70-year-old men, depression in terms of overall mortality is a similarly high risk factor as high blood pressure. Depression can have an increasingly negative effect on health in connection with other factors: "Obese people with a body mass index (BMI) of over 30 show no significant increased risk in overall mortality without depression," explains Ladwig: "If they are depressed, increases their risk of dying threefold.”
The question remains as to the mechanisms by which depression leads to increased mortality. “The self-damaging behavior of those affected certainly plays a role. Depressed patients treat their own bodies more carelessly than non-depressed patients,” says the specialist in psychosomatic medicine. According to studies, depressed people pay less attention to their diet, are less physically active and smoke relatively often.
"In addition, certain effects of depression on the body can also be measured directly," says Ladwig. Heart rate studies show that in depressed people the autonomic nervous system, which controls vital functions such as breathing and heartbeat, is out of balance. In addition, the coagulation system reacts more sensitively. "Last but not least, it has been shown that acute or chronic stress reactions increase the levels of inflammation in the blood," says the expert in psychocardiology.
Ladwig: "The study results make it clear how important it is to take depression into account in heart patients." Two questions alone can be used to determine whether depressive symptoms are present or not: In the last month, have you often felt dejected, depressed or hopeless? suffered? Have you often suffered from low interest or joylessness in the past month? “Every doctor should take this time,” emphasizes Ladwig.
Source: Berlin [ DGPM ]
