Can Depression Cause Heart Failure? New Study Finds Link After Screening Heart Failure Patients

A new study found a link between and increased mortality risk in heart failure patients.

Heart failure patients who suffer from depression have a five time greater risk of death after being discharged from hospital. The finding of the research was presented at Heart Failure 2015, which is the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), in Seville, Spain.

According to researchers, people who suffer heart failure but are not depressed have 80% lower mortality risk. The big question here is, can depression cause heart failures?

In order to reduce mortality among heart failure patients, recognition of depression and counseling along with a comprehensive approach for depression management rather than just medication is imperative.

Despite the fact that there might be numerous causes including the severity of the disease, researchers say it is crucial to manage depression, according to records on Pioneer News.

Study author John Cleland, a professor of cardiology at Imperial College London and the University of Hull in England said, "We know that depression is common in heart failure and affects 20 to 40 percent of patients."

Cleland added that the research clearly showed a strong association between depression and risk of death in the year after discharge from hospital.

"Our research clearly shows a strong association between depression and risk of death in the year after discharge from hospital. We expect that the link persists beyond one year," Cleland added.

At least 154 patients were evaluated, and 27 of them suffered from mild depression, 24 with moderate to serious depression. 27 subjects died after about 302 days of follow up, Empire State Tribune noted.

According to the researchers, the increased danger of death associated with moderate to serious case of depression was free of other health issues as well as severity of heart failure.

People suffering from depression generally display loss of motivation along with lack of interest in regular activities, low confidence, poor quality of life, poor sleep quality and change in appetite as well as change in weight.

"This could explain the association we found between depression and mortality," Cleland said.

Cleland explained that the association remained the same, irrespective of presence of comorbidities or severity of heart failure.