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Can Depression Double The Risk Of Death In Heart Patients?

Depression along with heart problems could prove to be fatal!

By Chandana Rao

Do you feel like your world has ended during certain days? Do you feel an utter sense of hopelessness? If yes, and if these signs have been long-standing, then it could mean that you may be suffering from depression.

As we all know, as humans we are prone to get a number of diseases in our lifetime, either physiological, mental or both!

Can Depression Double The Risk Of Death In Heart Patients

Now, physiological and mental diseases are closely related, because in many cases, physiological diseases can show mental symptoms and vice versa.

For example, when people are affected with certain physiological disorders like thyroid, due to the hormonal imbalances, they could experience depression symptoms.

Similarly, when a person is suffering from depression, there could be physical symptoms such as stress, stomach ache, etc.

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So, many a times, it could become very hard for people to decipher between certain mental and physiological illnesses, as they could be connected to each other in more ways that we think.

So, it is very important to take better care of our health and do everything we can to avoid diseases!
Now, we know that heart ailments are one of the most dangerous types of diseases that could affect a human and can even prove to be fatal!

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Heart is one of the most important vital organs of the body and when it is affected even to a small extent, it could be dangerous!

There are a number of causes for heart ailments such as defects in the heart, high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, stress, etc.

In extreme cases, one can even experience cardiac arrests which could result in immediate death.
Mental ailments like depression can make certain physiological illnesses more pronounced.

A recent study has found that people with heart ailments who are also suffering from depression could be at a higher risk of death!

Read more to find out how the two ailments are related, here.

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Link Between Depression And Heart Ailments
When a person is diagnosed with even a simple ailment like flu, it could lead to a lot of disappointment and frustration, as any disease, be it minor or major, could affect a person's quality of life.

So, imagine the case where people are diagnosed with serious heart ailments; it is bound to make a person feel anxious and hopeless, eventually leading to depression!

Although it is easier for people to give advice to heart patients and ask them to not worry, they know their pain the best and most of them are prone to depression!

Also, in a few other cases, people who have been suffering from depression could develop heart ailments.

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Either way, the risk of death increases in heart patients who also have depression, is what a team of researchers from Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, have found.

The researchers opine that when people with heart ailments have depression, the hormonal imbalance caused by depression could further affect the heart and lead to a relatively quicker death of the patients.

So, people with heart ailments who are also suffering from depression must seek professional help immediately.

Story first published: Wednesday, August 2, 2017, 12:26 [IST]
Read more about: depression health heart disorders cure