Depressed Middle Age Women Twice More Likely to Have Stroke

Depressed middle-aged women are twice more likely to have strokes than women of the same age who are not depressed, according to a new finding from the University of Queensland.

The study, led by Dr. Caroline Jackson from UQ's School of Population Health, noticed that even after considering other risk factors for stroke such as high blood pressure and diabetes, those who were depressed were 1.9 times more likely to suffer from stroke when compared to those who were not depressed.

This study emphasizes the impact of poor mental health on physical health.

"Current guidelines for stroke prevention tend to overlook the potential role of depression," Dr. Jackson said in a press statement.

This is the first study that analyzes the association between depression and stroke in middle-aged women.

The study focused on the 12 year Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health that included 10,000 women belonging to the age group of 40-50.

Among these, 24 percent of the participants reported being depressed. This was based on the responses they produced in the standardized depression scale and the recent use of medication to treat depression.

The researchers could not clearly understand the link between depression and stroke in the middle-aged group. But they say that the body's inflammatory and immunological processes and their effects on blood vessels may play a vital role in this.

"Further research is needed on women of different ages within the same population to help us identify how depression impacts their risk of stroke at different stages in life," she said.