2024-09-06 22:31:37
Depression or anxiety can impair healing after a heart attack or stroke. But these people are the ones who often suffer from such mental disorders.
Cardiovascular diseases are widespread and place a great burden on those affected. Cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes can have particularly serious consequences and lead to chronic heart failure, paralysis or speech disorders.
Such acute cardiovascular diseases can have not only physical consequences for patients, but in many cases also serious psychological consequences – and this can last for several years. This is the conclusion of a new study from the “Big Data Center” in China. The study was published in the “Journal of the American Heart Association”.
In the study, the researchers analyzed the data of almost 200,000 people from the UK Biobank. Around 64,000 of them were admitted to hospital for the first time between 1997 and 2020 for a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke. The researchers compared these patients with a control group of almost 128,000 people with similar characteristics who had not suffered any cardiovascular events.
The result: In the first year after discharge, patients with cardiovascular events were 83 percent more likely to suffer from mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, stress-related disorders, substance abuse or suicide attempts.
Problems can last for years
The risk of anxiety and depression as well as suicidality was particularly high. Here, the risk of a stroke or other cardiovascular event in the first year was almost four times higher than in the comparison group. In the following years, the risk of mental illness remained elevated for these people, although less so. Only after about eight years were there no longer any differences between the people.
The study also found that these psychological problems are not due to genetic factors. The authors conclude that the psychological consequences are solely due to the cardiovascular events and the associated disabilities.
According to the specialist portal for cardiac medicine and heart health, mental health is particularly important after heart disease: “Mental health is closely linked to heart health. Mental disorders such as depression are not only considered a risk factor for the development of heart disease such as coronary heart disease, they can also have a negative impact on its course,” write the experts.
Prof. Ingrid Kindermann, cardiologist and head of the heart failure and special outpatient clinic at Saarland University Hospital, explains why this might be the case in the specialist portal: “Depressed, low-motivation patients, for example, do not like to go for regular examinations, they often do not weigh themselves regularly or are less consistent in checking their blood pressure and pulse – although they perhaps should. They may even not take their tablets consistently. Not only do they tend to do less exercise, they also eat less healthily.”
In addition, according to the cardiologist, depression can also make people physically ill by affecting blood pressure and pulse or coagulation. These are all developments that can promote heart disease or worsen an existing heart condition, explains Kindermann.
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Dr. Mariell Jessup, Chief Science and Medical Officer of the American Heart Association, emphasized the importance of mental health screenings after a serious cardiovascular event in relation to the current study. Not only should patients themselves and their families pay attention to the signs of mental health changes. Medical caregivers should also take seriously any changes that could indicate depression, anxiety or suicidal behavior.
According to the information portal on mental health and nervous disorders, classic signs of depression include non-specific pain, constant fatigue, listlessness and sleep disorders.
In general, Dr. Jessup recommends that most patients with cardiovascular disease have their mental health checked routinely.