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Depressive Disorders Linked To Elevated Risk Of Stroke In Women
09/19/2011 14:09Researchers learned that a history of depressive disorders was associated with a 29 percent elevated risk of total stroke, even after considering other sorts of stroke risk aspects. Women who utilized anti-depressant medication had a 39 percent elevated risk of stroke.
Anti-depressant medication use could possibly be an indicator of depressive disorders severity. This study does not suggest that individuals ought to quit their anti-depressant medication to reduce the risk of stroke.
Researchers studied women with out a prior history of stroke. They evaluated depressive symptoms multiple times with a Mental Health Index. Anti-depressant medication use was reported every two years beginning in 1996, and doctors diagnosed depressive disorders beginning in 2000.
Depressive disorders was described as currently reporting or having a history of depressive disorders.
The reported prevalence of depressive disorders at baseline in the women was 22 percent, and just over 1000 stroke cases were documented in the course of six years of follow-up.
Compared to the women with out a history of depressive disorders, depressed women were more likely to be single, smokers and less physically active. They were also somewhat younger, had a higher body mass index and more coexisting problems for example high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Depressive disorders may prevent individuals from managing additional medical issues such as diabetes and hypertension, from taking medications frequently or using additional healthy lifestyle steps such as exercise. Each one of these aspects could contribute to elevated risk.
Depressive disorders could possibly be associated with an elevated risk of stroke via a number of mechanisms. It could possibly be linked to inflammation, which increases the risk of stroke along with other problems or underlying vascular disease in the brain. Regardless of the mechanism, recognizing that depressed individuals could possibly be at a greater risk of stroke may help the doctor focus on not only treating the depressive disorders, but treating stroke risk aspects such as hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol in addition to addressing lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and doing exercises.
Amongst limitations with the study, the individuals were predominantly white registered nurses, it excluded women with out comprehensive information on depressive disorders measures and the participants with onset of stroke at a young age.
We can't infer cause or completely exclude the possibility that the results could be explained by additional un measured unknown aspects. Even though underlying mechanisms stay unclear, recognizing that depressed women could possibly be at a greater risk of stroke merits additional investigation into preventive methods in this group.
Following a Mediterranean Diet Could Reduce Risk of Depression
According to researchers, those who follow the Mediterranean diet plan appear less prone to develop depression.
The lifetime incidence of mental disorders has been found to be less in Mediterranean than Northern European countries. One possible explanation is that the diet generally followed in the area could be protective against depression. Earlier studies have suggested that the monounsaturated fatty acids in olive oil -used in abundance in the Mediterranean diet- might be linked to a reduced risk of severe depressive symptoms.
The researchers studied 10,094 healthy Spanish subjects who reported their dietary intake on a food frequency questionnaire. The researchers determined their adherence to the Mediterranean diet based on nine components.
After a median (midpoint) of 4.4 years of follow-up, 480 new cases of depression were recognized. Those who followed the Mediterranean diet most strictly had a more than a 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression than participants who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores.
"The specific mechanisms by which a better adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern could help to prevent the occurrence of depression are not well known," the authors write. Components of the diet could improve blood vessel function, fight inflammation, lessen risk for heart disease and restore oxygen-related cell damage, all of which can reduce the likelihood of developing depression.
"However, the role of the overall dietary pattern may be more important than the effect of single components. It is plausible that the synergistic combination of a sufficient provision of omega-three fatty acids together with other natural unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants from olive oil and nuts, flavonoids and other phytochemicals from fruit and other plant foods and large amounts of natural folates and other B vitamins in the overall Mediterranean dietary pattern may exert a fair degree of protection against depression," the authors write.