Suffering depression ‘increases your risk of deadly stroke’, experts warn
DEPRESSION puts you at greater risk of suffering a stroke years later, experts warn.
The new findings could prove significant for the one in four Brits plagued by mental health problems.
There are two types of stroke: haemorrhagic, which is a bleed on the brain and ischaemic, caused by a blocked artery.
Scientists in Florida discovered people suffering signs of depression are at 75 per cent greater chance of suffering an ischaemic stroke later in life.
They looked at 1,104 people, with an average age of 70 - none of whom had ever had a stroke.
They were all followed for around 14 years.
The findings showed 18 per cent, or 198 people, had elevated symptoms of depression at the start of the study, with symptoms being measured via a questionnaire.
It asked about things like appetite, how happy or sad people felt, and how much energy they had.
Symptoms of stroke
The main symptoms of stroke spell out FAST:
F: face may have dropped on one side
A: arms can't be lifted or kept in the air
S: speech is slurred or person might not be able to talk even though they're awake
T: time to dial 999
As for depression, symptoms can be psychological, physical and social.
The says they can include:
- continuous low mood
- feeling hopeless, tearful and guilt-ridden
- no motivation and low-esteem
- thoughts of suicide or self-harm
- low libido
- disturbed sleep
- changes to appetite or weight
- avoiding friends or social situations
- neglecting hobbies and interests
If you or something you know is struggling with depression, go to see your GP as soon as possible. There are a number of ways it can be dealt with - from therapy to medication.
Scores ranged between zero and 60, with anything above 16 being considered as "elevated".
During the study, 101 people had a stroke.
Of those, 87 were ischaemic strokes, where blood flow to part of the brain is blocked.
After adjusting for other stroke risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking, scientists still found that elevated symptoms of depression still made people 75 per cent more likely to have an ischaemic stroke than those without symptoms.
Of the 198 people with elevated depression symptoms, 22 had an ischaemic stroke, compared to the 65 of 906 people who had low-to-no symptoms.
"Depression is common and often goes untreated, so these results could hold great promise as we learn more about how depression may affect people's risk for stroke and other cardiovascular problems and ultimately develop ways to prevent these problems," said study author Dr Marialaura Simonetto of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida.
"If people with depression are at elevated risk of stroke, early detection and treatment will be even more important."
MORE ON MENTAL HEALTH
Dr Simonetto said that to really say that depression causes stroke, lot more research is needed.
At the moment, scientists have only shown an association between the two, rather than a cause and effect.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that mental health isn't something any of us can afford to ignore.
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