The increased risk of cardiovascular events for patients with coronary heart disease and symptoms of depression appears to be largely explained by a change in health behaviors, especially a lack of physical activity, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA.
Depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease in healthy patients and for recurrent events in patients with established cardiovascular disease. Despite the substantial body of evidence demonstrating a strong link between depression and cardiovascular disease, the explanation for this association remains unclear, according to background information in the article. “Understanding how depression leads to cardiovascular events is necessary for developing interventions to decrease the excess cardiovascular morbidity [illness] and mortality [death] associated with depression,” the authors write.
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