Up to 15 percent of patients with cardiovascular disease and up to 20 percent of patients who have undergone coronary bypass graft surgery experience major depression.
In one landmark study, the continued presence of depression after recovery increased the risk of death (mortality) to 17 percent within 6 months after a heart attack (versus 3 percent mortality in heart attack patients who didn't have depression).
Negative lifestyle habits associated with depression -- such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, poor diet and lack of social support -- interfere with the treatment for heart disease.
Depression has been proven to be such a risk factor in cardiac disease that the American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended that all cardiac patients be screened for depression.
Patients with depression after myocardial infarction, especially those with prior episodes, should be both carefully watched and aggressively treated because they are at an elevated cardiac risk and less likely to improve spontaneously.
Up to 15 percent of patients with cardiovascular disease and up to
20 percent of patients who have undergone coronary bypass graft
surgery experience major depression. In one landmark study, the
continued presence of depression after recovery...
More
Up to 15 percent of patients with cardiovascular disease and up to 20 percent of patients who have undergone coronary bypass graft surgery experience major depression.
