Loading...
Depression is a significant predictor of the development, recurrence, and prognosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). To identify the mechanisms that mediate this association, California researchers recruited 1017 patients (mean age, 67) with known stable CVD (e.g., angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease or revascularization, history of myocardial infarction, exercise-induced ischemia). All were assessed for depression, cardiac status, and 31 behavioral and biologic risk factors; 199 patients had symptoms of moderate-to-severe depression.
After roughly 5 years of follow-up, 341 CVD events occurred, including new-onset heart failure, MI, stroke, and transient ischemic attack. The age-adjusted risk for a CVD event was 10% per year for…