Past research has shown that many people are susceptible to depression after a heart attack or stroke, but a new study from the United States has found that depression can also trigger heart disease.
Columbia University researchers report in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that they followed 63,000 women between 1992 and 2004.
At the start of the study, none of the participants had heart disease, but nearly 8 percent had major depression.
After 12 years, the researchers found that the depressed women were more likely than the other women to have had a heart attack and were twice as likely to suffer sudden cardiac death.
The study also found that among women with depression, those taking antidepressants for severe illness were more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death.
The researchers reasoned that the more severe the depression, the more vulnerable the heart and therefore the greater the likelihood of sudden death.
