Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Utah have found depression doubles the long-term risk of death after heart disease diagnosis.
"Our study shows that it doesn't matter if depression emerges in the short term or a few years down the road -- it's a risk factor that continually needs to be assessed," Heidi May, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, said in a press release. "I think the take-home message is that patients with coronary disease need to be continuously screened for depression, and if found to be depressed, they need to receive adequate treatment and continued follow-up."
