“Our data suggest that depression is an important and emerging risk factor for heart failure among patients with coronary heart disease,” Heidi T May PhD, MSPH, of International Medical Center in Utah, lead author of the study, said.

 

For the study, Dr. May looked at 13,708 coronary heart disease patients. At the beginning of the study, none of them had heart failure or depression. Over time, the researchers watched the patients to see if and when depression developed, to check if it led to heart failure at all.

 

They found that those who suffered from depression saw their heart failure risk increase by 50 percent. More than this, the risk remained that high even after antidepressants were prescribed, the study found.

 

And that’s because “antidepressant therapy may not be able to alter the physiological and/or behavioral risks associated with depression and heart failure, despite a potential improvement in depressive symptoms,” May noted.

 

Depression is often associated with reduced heart rate and increases in blood factors that encourage the formation of blood clots. Also, people going through depression are less likely to practice good health habits or follow doctors’ orders in taking medications and keeping appointments. All these factors may lead to heart failure in people already diagnosed with coronary heart disease.