In a new study, researchers found a lower frequency of depression is linked to a 34 percent decreased risk of coronary artery disease and a 33 percent decreased risk of type 2 diabetes.
The prevalence of unrecognized depression in patients with heart disease has been known for more than 40 years.
However, it is unclear whether depression contributes to the development of heart disease or whether it is mostly secondary to the clinical condition.
In the study, the team examined the genomes of 328,152 people of European ancestry (aged between 40 and 69 years old) available in the UK Biobank.
These data allowed the team to generate a polygenic risk score—a specialized tool that can be used to refine risk prediction for heart disease.
The team found that a lower burden of depressed mood is associated with a decreased risk of coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes and atrial fibrillation by 34 percent, 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
This association was found to be independent of lifestyle factors known to be associated with both poor mental health and the risk of heart diseases, such as diet, exercise and smoking.
In addition, the association between depression and coronary artery disease was higher in women than in men.
The team says the findings expand the knowledge of the potential contributing role of depression in the development of heart disease.
However, future research will be needed to determine the mechanisms behind this association and to identify potential implications for preventive therapies.
If you care about mental health, please read studies that common drugs for inflammation, depression, alcoholism may treat COVID-19, and 7 things to avoid when you are depressed.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies that common drugs for high blood pressure, diabetes may lower COVID-19 death risk, and results showing that one avocado a day keeps diabetes at bay.
The study is published in Nature Cardiovascular Research and was conducted by Pradeep Natarajan et al.
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