DEPRESSION IS MAJOR RISK FACTOR
March 08, 2007
Depressed heart failure patients were 50% more likely to die or be hospitalized for their heart condition than nondepressed patients, according to a study of 204 patients followed for 3 years.
This ranks depression among the highest risk factors for heart failure patients along with high cholesterol, hypertension and even the heart's ability to pump blood. The Duke and North Carolina medical researchers did not have a clear explanation why depression was associated with worse outcomes but plan on doing further research.
According to one of the study co-authors, James Blumenthal, although there have been many studies linking depression to worse outcomes for patients with heart disease, there was uncertainty as to how significant a factor it was.