Will Treating Depression Treat Heart Disease?
In the past, we have had several discussions about cardiac depression as a common, patient pitfall after heart valve surgery. Now, it appears there is some new evidence which suggests that treating depression may help treat patients after a cardiac event.
Sarah sent me this very interesting article which was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Patients who develop depression after heart attacks fare worse in the long term than those who don’t. But will treating their depression prevent further heart problems and safe lives? That question plagues medical experts and is a source of fresh contention among cardiologists and behavioral scientists looking for effective strategies to help patients suffering from both conditions.
Depressed people are more likely to have heart attacks, and 15% to 20% of those who have had heart attacks get depressed, according to the American Heart Association. In contrast, 6.7% of adults in the overall U.S. population will be become depressed any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Classic-car lover Nicholas Toros says that he couldn’t enjoy his hobby after a heart attack in 1991 led to bouts of depression.
Moreover, depressed heart patients have a greater chance of dying and a worse quality of life compared to those who aren’t depressed. A study published Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that patients who developed severe depression after being hospitalized for a cardiac event, and remain depressed for at least six months, had more than double the risk of dying over the next seven years.
“The bottom line is that depression is important,” says Brett Thombs, assistant professor in psychiatry at McGill University and Jewish General Hospital, Montreal. “The question is what we do about it.”
Remedies for depression in the general population include antidepressant medications, such as Prozac, that have transformed treatment of the condition in the past two decades, and psychotherapy. But there is surprisingly little research examining whether these approaches help prevent deaths or heart attacks among heart patients who also suffer from depression.
In a move that continues to spur debate, the American Heart Association came out with recommendations last year stating that all heart-disease patients should be screened for depression, and those with symptoms should be treated. The guidance, endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association, was issued even though both organizations acknowledged a lack of evidence that such screening improves outcomes in patients with heart disease.
To continue reading this story, please click this link, Will Treating Depression Treat Heart Disease?
Or, to learn more about cardiac depression as it relates to heart valve surgery, please click these links:
- Behavioral and Emotional Changes After Heart Surgery
- How To Care And Support A Heart Valve Surgery Patient?
- Heart Surgery Patients Should Not Feel Alone & Isolated
- Vicodin And Heart Surgery Recovery… Beware!
- Recovery Tip: Go To Cardiac Rehab
- Heart Valve Surgery & Cardiac Depression - My Experience
Keep on tickin!
P.S. To leave a comment, please click here.
About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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