Earlier Treatment of Depression Prevents Heart Attacks and Strokes

The School of Science at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has made a groundbreaking discovery. They are the first to find that the risk of future heart attacks and strokes can be cut in half if depression is treated prior to any signs of cardiovascular concerns.

The study, "Effect of Collaborative Care for Depression on Risk of Cardiovascular Events: Data from the IMPACT Randomized Controlled Trial," appears in last month's issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Led by Jesse C. Stewart, Ph.D., the research team was able to uncover this information with the participation of 235 older, clinically depressed patients. These patients were randomly assigned to either standard care or to a collaborative care program (involving antidepressants and psychotherapy) to treat their depression.

In all, 168 of the 235 depression patients did not have heart disease, leading the research team to find that those who received collaborative care to treat their depression had a 48 percent lower risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke over the next eight years compared to patients who received standard care for their depression.

The study also found that it is key to treat the depression before any signs of cardiovascular disease arise; the collaborative care treatment of the 67 patients that had preexisting cardiovascular disease did not reveal a lower risk of heart attack or stroke.

"Lifestyle changes -- such as stopping smoking -- and blood pressure and cholesterol medications are important approaches to decreasing risk of heart attacks and strokes," said Dr. Stewart on the IUPUI website. "Our findings, if confirmed in a larger clinical trial, could provide an important new approach - depression treatment - to preventing cardiovascular events."

Dr. Stewart and his team's next goal is to seek funding in order to conduct a larger and more randomized controlled trial to further explore that treating depression prior to cardiovascular history reduces the risks of heart attacks and strokes.

To read more about this study, as well as depression and cardiovascular issues, visit this article on the IUPUI website.