Depression
(IN PHOTO)United States Army veteran Andy Powers, who lost both his legs in Afghanistan, takes a quiet moment before heading out to surf in Pismo Beach, California August 18, 2006. Fourteen servicemen and women who lost limbs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan traveled on Friday from Brook Army Medical Center in Texas to Pismo Beach in California to attend a surf clinic sponsored by a non-profit group called "Operation Comfort". REUTERS

A new study presented at Heart Failure 2015, the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology in Seville, Spain, has revealed that moderate to severe form of depression is linked with increased risk of mortality in patients with heart failure. Depression is a form of mental disorder that leaves a person in a constant mood of sadness with loss of interest in life. Clinical depression is more severe and affects the way a person feels, thinks and behaves, leading to a variety of emotional and physical problems, and often, suicide.

The most obvious explanation behind the link between depression and heart failure is inability of the person suffering from depression to look after himself and care less about what he eats, exercise and his general physical well-being. Another important aspect is the role of stress and inflammation in heart disease. According to the researchers, stress hormones and inflammatory markers increase in depression which leads to plaque build-up and ultimately damages the arteries.

The chief investigator of the study and professor of cardiology at Imperial College London and the University of Hull, UK, John Cleland, says, “Patients with heart failure are at high risk of recurrent hospital admissions and death. Approximately 25% of patients admitted to hospital with heart failure are readmitted for a variety of reasons within one month. Within one year, most patients will have had one or more readmissions and almost half will have died."

The aim of the study was to investigate the predictors of heart failure and reasons for readmission and death amongst patients suffering from it. Depression levels in the patients enrolled were assessed by using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, or HADS-D, questionnaire and comorbidity was examined using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, or CCI.

The results indicated that those who suffered from moderate to severe depression had a five-fold increased risk of death compared to those with no or mild depression. To this, Cleland adds, "Our results show that depression is strongly associated with death during the year following discharge from hospital after an admission for the exacerbation of heart failure; we expect that the link persists beyond one year. The association was independent of the severity of heart failure or the presence of comorbidities."

He concluded by saying that since the study was able to establish a strong association between depression and risk of death, it is important to recognise the early symptoms of depression. Better management and treatment might then reduce the rate of mortality among the patients with heart failure.

To contact the writer, email:ruchira.dhoke@gmail.com

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