Can Depression Increase Your Risk for Heart Disease? | Dr Gokhale

It has been a long established fact that the heart diseases and mental health of a patient are closely related to each other. The growing body of research on the nexus between heart diseases and mental health conditions further has shed a focus light on this dangerous connection giving more information on the causes, risk factors, and treatment options.

So in this blog here we try to answer give you more information on the mental health and heart diseases. Given depression is the most common and surprisingly growing mental health concern across all age groups, we focus on the connection between depression and heart problems, and other common questions in this blog here.

Depression & Heart Health – The Connection:

Depression is that constant and extended feeling of loss and sadness characterized by self-loathing loss of energy troubled sleeping and withdrawal for usual activities. In depression people can experience the above feelings intensely for long periods over time affecting the biological pathways and fostering risky health behaviours that can and according to research, will negatively impact the heart health:

1. Depression, overtime can also directly affect the heart function by increasing the cardiac reactivity, reducing the blood flow, and heightening the levels of cortisol which further down the line can trigger metabolic diseases and even the calcium build-up in the arteries.
2. The risky health behaviours fostered by the depression, like troubled sleeping, inactive lifestyle, smoking and failure to take medications can further trouble the heart function in the longer run.

On top of the above, the anti-psychotic medication that is used to treat mental health disorders is also associated with other medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, heart attack, and stroke which can dampen the heart health further. So in the wake of all the above if you ask us if depression causes heart problems, or whether depression increases the risk of heart diseases then the answer is, yes.

Mental disorders can sap all the energy, affect biology, and foster risky health behaviours, and can also avoid seeking prompt medical help, thus increasing the risk of heart diseases from all quarters. Though depression is identified today among all age groups, women, in general, are found t to a show a greater risk of heart problems due to depression. And given genetics also plays a role in the incidence of mental health problems, this increased risk can also be passed down from the family members.

While the symptoms of the heart problems are manifested among the patients physically, the depression can be a silent disease which needs to identify as quickly as possible to receive prompt treatment from a mental health professional and that is the only way to ward off the risk posed by depression on the heart health. If you need more info or if you are looking for an expert heart specialist to improve your heart health or consult on your existing heart condition, you can contact renowned heart specialist Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale here Call: 9603040506