Depression May Be As Bad For The Heart As Obesity

Doctors have long known of an association between psychological and physical health, but mental illness wasn’t considered to be a major risk factor for ailments like heart disease, until now. Depression has been linked to physical health risks including digestive disorders, chronic pain, stroke and even early death. Depression is also closely tied to heart health: New research suggests that it may be one of the top risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The relationship seems to run both ways. Patients with heart conditions are more likely to become depressed as a result of their illness, and otherwise healthy people with depression are significantly more likely to develop heart disease than the general population.    The German study, published last month in the journal Atherosclerosis, found depressed mood and exhaustion to be on par with high cholesterol levels and obesity as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease ― the only greater risk factors being smoking and high blood pressure. “An association between psychological health and disease has been appreciated for centuries,” Ahmed Tawakol, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who has conducted research on the connection between stress and heart health, told The Huffington Post. “However, only over the past decades has mounting evidence suggested that stress and depression may be more than simple markers of heart disease; they might be important causes.” ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news