Depression and Anxiety Disorders May Affect Heart Rhythms
Increase Blood Pressure, and Alter Blood Clotting
Depression and Anxiety can also lead to elevated insulin and
cholesterol levels. These risk factors, with obesity, form a group
of signs and symptoms that often serve as both a predictor of and
a response to heart disease.
Furthermore, depression or anxiety may
result in chronically elevated levels of stress hormones, such as
cortisol and adrenaline.
As high levels of stress hormones are signaling
a "fight or flight" reaction, the body's metabolism is diverted
away from the type of tissue repair needed in heart disease.
Despite the enormous advances in brain research
in the past 20 years, depression and anxety often goes undiagnosed
and untreated.
Persons with heart disease, their families and
friends, and even their physicians and cardiologists (physicians
specializing in heart disease treatment) may misinterpret depression's
warning signs, mistaking them for inevitable accompaniments to heart
disease.
Symptoms of depression may overlap with those
of heart disease and other physical illnesses. However, skilled
health professionals will recognize the symptoms of depression and
anxiety and inquire about their duration and severity, diagnose
the disorder, and suggest appropriate treatment.
This Article is part of the NIH Publication No.
02-5004 article
If you think you may be depressed or know someone
who is, don't lose hope. Seek help for depression and anxiety.
You can find more information regarding Depression
and anxiety and heart disease at the NIH websiteNIH Publication
No. 02-5004
Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service National Institutes of Health National Institute
of Mental Health May 2002
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