People who suffer from depression may have a greater risk of heart failure, according to a recent study HealthDay reported.
Norwegian researchers found that people with mild symptoms of depression were 5 percent more likely to develop heart failure, and those with moderate to severe symptoms of the mood disorder had a 40 percent increased risk, Healthday reported.
"Depressive symptoms increase the chance of developing heart failure and the more severe the symptoms are, the greater the risk," study first author Lise Tuset Gustad, an intensive care nurse at Levanger Hospital in Norway, said in a society news release.
She said this is because depressed people tend to have less healthy lifestyles.
For the study, researchers looked at nearly 63,000 people in Norway who underwent physical and mental health assessments. In the span of 11 years, nearly 1,500 of the participants developed heart failure compared to people with no symptoms of depression.
However, the study doesn't prove depression causes the condition, only that the two are often linked.
"Depression triggers stress hormones. If you're stressed you feel your pulse going up and your breath speeding up, which is the result of hormones being released," Gustad explained. "Those stress hormones also induce inflammation and [plaque buildup in arteries], which may accelerate heart diseases."
She added that depressed people find it more difficult to follow advice about how to take medications and improve their lifestyle. This might also explain the association between depression and heart failure.
There are effective treatments for depression, particularly if it's diagnosed early.
"The early symptoms of depression include a loss of interest and loss of pleasure in things that have normally been interesting or given pleasure," Gustad said. "If you feel like that, speak to your friends, and if it lasts for a month see your doctor or nurse."
The findings were presented Friday at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Stavanger, Norway, HealthDay reported.
