People with heart failure must be screened for signs of depression and offered counselling, scientists say.<\/p>\n
A small study presented at the European Society of Cardiology suggested patients with depression were more likely to die within a year.<\/p>\n
Though many factors are likely to influence this – including the severity of the disease – researchers say managing depression is important.<\/p>\n
And charities advise people to seek help through specialist nurses and GPs.<\/p>\n
Prof John Cleland, chief investigator in the study, who works at both Imperial College London and the University of Hull, describes heart failure as a “modern epidemic” that affects 900,000 people across the UK.<\/p>\n
But despite trying to find better drugs and improved procedures there is no cure, Prof Cleland told the BBC: “Being heart specialists we have focused on trying to find medicines, devices, and operations.”<\/p>\n
“They work but not as well as we would like. So we have decided to step back and look at the bigger picture,” he added.<\/p>\n
Higher death risk?<\/strong><\/p>\n Heart failure can happen when the the muscle of the heart becomes too weak or too stiff, making it harder to pump blood around the body.<\/p>\n And as this becomes worse patients can feel very tired and short of breath.<\/p>\n As part of a continuing investigation, Prof Cleland’s team asked 96 patients, who had been admitted to hospital with heart failure, a series of questions to assess whether they were depressed.<\/p>\n Those who showed signs of moderate or severe depression were more likely to have died in the 300 days that followed.<\/p>\n Though this link has been shown before, scientists generally thought this was down to people with depression suffering from a more severe form of the condition.<\/p>\n While the Hull scientists acknowledge this is likely to play a part, they say it is does not account for the full picture.<\/p>\n For example, while measuring NT-proBNP – a hormone that can be used to help monitor the severity of the disease – they found little difference between people who had severe depression and those who did not.<\/p>\n It is likely that other factors are important as well; some people with depression may not feel motivated to take their pills or seek help quickly, scientists suggest.<\/p>\n Researchers say these questions, and their early findings, need to be explored and evaluated in bigger studies.<\/p>\n Meanwhile Julie Ward at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We know depression is both a risk factor for heart disease and is often experienced by people who have had a major heart event.”<\/p>\n “Every person with a long-term physical health condition, like heart disease, should be treated for both their physical and psychological symptoms equally.<\/p>\n “Talk to your GP or heart specialist nurse and discuss the options that could be available to you,” she said.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People with heart failure must be screened for signs of depression and offered counselling, scientists say. A small study presented at the European Society of Cardiology suggested patients with depression were more likely to die within a year. Though many factors are likely to influence this – including the severity of the disease – researchers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":118997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[15,38],"yoast_head":"\n