Heart Study Sheds Light on Depression

Heart Study Sheds Light on Depression

February 2005
Volume IV, Number 8

About one in five people suffering from heart failure become clinically depressed, and four factors seem to increase the risk, researchers report in a recent issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Edward P. Havranek of Denver Health Medical Center in Colorado and his team examined social, demographic, and clinical factors associated with the onset of depression in 245 heart failure patients who were not depressed to begin with.

Compared to those without depressive symptoms, depressed patients were significantly more likely to live alone, to find medical care a severe economic burden, to have a history of alcohol abuse, and to have significantly worse heart failure scores.

"You can't deduct medical expenses incurred because of a nervous condition brought on by worrying about the national deficit!"

"Future studies are needed to evaluate whether interventions aimed at the prevention of depression and/or the treatment of depression in those who screen positive will improve outcomes," Havranek and his colleagues write.

In the meantime, they urge doctors to be mindful of "the high incidence of depressive symptoms and the risk factors for development of depression in patients with heart failure."