CHD: Depression doubles the risk of death

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Coronary artery disease (CHD) can be life-threatening. Patients who also develop depression are particularly at risk.

In people with coronary artery disease, the heart has a poorer supply of blood due to constricted coronary arteries. A heart failure or a heart attack can result.

Influence of the psyche on the course

Mental stability has a considerable influence on the severity of the disease. For patients who develop depression after diagnosis, the risk of death doubles. This also applies if the depression does not occur until years after the heart diagnosis.

"Depression was the strongest risk factor for dying, even more so than old age, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure, heart attack or stroke," says study director Heidi May from the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

First the heart, then the mind

The researcher and her colleagues had evaluated the data of more than 24,000 patients in whom coronary heart disease had been discovered as part of an angiography, i.e. an examination of the blood vessels. The researchers found that 15 percent of them subsequently developed depression.

Above all, they took a closer look at the distance from the original heart diagnosis the participants had developed depressive symptoms. For example, 27 percent of all depressed CHD patients developed the mental disorder in the first year after diagnosis, but also almost 37 percent only after more than five years. And for them, too, the risk of death was twice as high.

Identify and treat depression quickly

"After a year you are not on the safe side," warns May. Regular examinations of CHD patients for depression are therefore important - as is rapid treatment of the mental illness.

Depression and heart disease are mutually beneficial. For example, people with depression are more likely to develop heart disease, and people with heart disease are more likely to develop depression.

No energy for a healthy life

“We know that people with depression often lack the drive to lead a healthy lifestyle. They eat less food, exercise less, smoke and drink more alcohol than mentally healthy people, ”May reports. All of this can make you sick, but it can also make an existing organic disease worse. But even if you take such factors out of the equation, a strong correlation remains.

What depression changes in the body

For example, depression is associated with many unfavorable biochemical changes in the body due to the stress it causes. For example, the vascular functions change and the general inflammatory activity in the body increases. Both favor cardiovascular diseases.

Dangerous suffering

Coronary heart disease is widespread - and it tops the death toll. Depending on the severity of the disease and the location of the constrictions, the symptoms also vary. Some do not feel any of it, others suffer from painful heartbeats, shortness of breath and anxiety. If parts of the plaques in the blood vessels peel off, the vessel threatens to block and the patient suffers a heart attack.

Tags:  medicinal herbal home remedies tcm menshealth