Source: Xinhua
04-15-2009 10:50
Special Report: Tech MaxBEIJING, April 14 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study finds heart patients who become depressed are more prone to heart failure (HF) -- a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood throughout the body.
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| A new study finds heart patients who become depressed are more prone to heart failure (HF) -- a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood throughout the body.(File photo) |
The study is the first to investigate the influence of depression after heart disease on the likelihood of developing HF.
"Our data suggest that depression is an important and emerging risk factor for heart failure among patients with coronary heart disease," Heidi May of Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in the April 21 issue, said in a statement.
The researchers studied nearly 14,000 people with clogged heart arteries. None of them had heart failure or depression at the time of their diagnosis. Patients were tracked until they developed heart failure or died.
