Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Incident Cardiovascular Diseases
Publication: JAMA
Eric L. Harshfield, Lisa Pennells, Joseph, Schwartz, Peter Willeit, Stephen Kaptoge, Steven Bell, Jonathan A. Shaffer, Thomas Bolton, Sarah Spackman, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Frank Kee, Philippe Amouyel, Steven J. Shea, Lewis H. Kuller, Jussi Kauhanen, E. M. van Zutphen, Dan G. Blazer, Harlan Krumholz, Paul J. Nietert, Daan Kromhout, MD19; Gail Laughlin, Lisa Berkman, Robert B. Wallace, Leon A. Simons, Elaine M. Dennison, Elizabeth L. M. Barr, Haakon E. Meyer, Angela M. Wood, John Danesh, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Karina W. Davidson
15 December 2020
Summary
People who experience symptoms of depression are more likely to go on to develop heart disease or suffer a stroke than those who report good mental health.
Researchers analysed the health records of over half a million people, with no prior history of heart and circulatory disease, who were enrolled to two different studies.
Upon joining the studies, participants were given a score based on questionnaires assessing their mood and any symptoms of depression that they had experienced over the previous one to two weeks.
Over 10, researchers have found that those in the highest scoring group, and with most severe symptoms of depression, were more likely to have since developed heart disease or to have had a stroke, compared to people with the lowest scores.