Anxiety and Depression Double Risk of Illnesses in Coronary Heart Disease Patients
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The mental health problems, anxiety and depression can increase your risk of heart ailments says researchers. A new study by McGill University and the Universite de Montreal has found that major depression or anxiety can actually double the chances of repeated heart ailments for a coronary artery disease patient. This just goes to illustrate what most people already knew commonly. Your health is directly tied to your happiness and vice versa.
This is one of the first known studies that focuses on the affects of mental health problems on patients with stable coronary artery disease. The principal researcher in the study, Professor Nancy Frasure-Smith stated, “We found that both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder were more common in cardiac patients than in the general community…On average, cardiac patients without these disorders had about a 13 percent chance of a repeated cardiac event over two years, compared to 26 percent of those with either major depression or anxiety.”
Better watch out for anxiety and depression if you have a coronary artery disease.
The study involved interviewing 804 people who were patients with stable coronary artery disease and who were monitored by their physician. All of these patients had been discharged form their hospital just two months prior after being diagnosed with the disease. Frasure-Smith and her co-author Professor Francois Lesperance found that 27% of their interviewees were affected by depression and 41% showed signs of anxiety. This study is an important marker for physicians trying to keep their patients healthy. Antidepressants may treat both conditions well and keep the patient’s attitude positive.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080118093328.htm
Tags:Anxiety, Depression Mental Health