Death rate for depressed heart patients double than for non-depressed heart patients
The increased risk of death from any cause holds true whether the depression immediately follows the heart disease diagnosis or occurs even years later, according to Heidi May, PhD, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute and the study's lead author. She said the findings point out the importance of screening for and treating depression even years after someone is diagnosed with heart disease. The research, one of a number of studies to explore the connection between heart disease and development of depression by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, will be published on July 28 in the European Heart Journal -- Quality of Care & Clinical Outcomes. Researchers found that post-coronary artery disease depression was the single biggest predictor of death, and remained so even after researchers controlled for the other factors. "No matter how long or how short it was, patients were found to have twice the...