According to the DepressionHelpSpot.com, depression affects seven of every 100 adults at some point of their lives. Numerous conditions appear with higher frequency in depression patients, including heart attacks, cancer, and substance abuse but also such conditions as strokes, migraines, diabetes, sleep disorders, and other mental disorders such as ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder have been linked to depression. Oftentimes, it is not clear whether people with depression are more likely to get these conditions, or whether these conditions cause depression. According to the DepressionHelpSpot.com, depression weakens the immune system, making the body more prone to get other illnesses.
Depression and Heart Attack
It seems that depression can both put a person at risk for heart attack and that people who have had a heart attack are likely to get depressed. According to DepressionHelpSpot.com, depressed people are four times as likely to develop a heart attack as those without a history of this illness. According to a study by Dr. Thomas Guck and colleagues, published in the journal of “American Family Physician” in August of 2001, approximately 65 percent of heart attack patients experience some symptoms of depression, and 15 to 22 percent of them suffer from major depression. Moreover, according to a study by D.E. Bush and his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, depressed patients are 50 percent more likely than other heart attack patients to need hospital care for heart problems and are three times as likely to die from a future attack as non-depressed heart attack patients.
Depression and Cancer
According to DepressionHelpSpot.com, 25 percent of cancer patients experience depression. Recent study by Dr. J. Steel, published in the “Journal of Clinical Oncology” in 2007, found that depression was diagnosed in more than one third of the 101 cancer patients studied. These patients showed a significantly shorter survival time as compared with the non-depressed cancer patients. Dr. Steel also studied the potential mechanism that might mediate the association between depression and cancer survival and found out that depression was associated with declines in natural killer cell activity. It has also been debated whether depression might cause cancel. A study by Dr. Dalton So from the Danish Cancer Society, published in "European Journal of Cancer" in July of 2002, failed to show such a connection. Scientists reviewed the evidence for an association between major life events, depression and the risk for cancer and concluded that neither depression nor negative life events are risk factors for cancer.
Depression and Substance Abuse
According to DepressionHelpSpot.com, 27 percent of individuals with substance abuse disorders also suffer from depression. The 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions showed that people who have suffered recent episodes of major depression have higher rates of alcoholism and drug addiction compared with the rest of the population. Moreover, coexisting substance dependence and depression predicted poor outcome in patients.
References
- Depression Help Spot: Depression Statistics
- American Family Physician: Assessment and Treatment of Depression Following Myocardial Infarction
- Agency for Healtcare Research and Quality: Post-Myocardial Infarction Depression
- “Journal of Clinical Oncology”; Depression, immunity, and survival in patients with hepatobiliary carcinoma; J. Steel, DA Geller.; 2007.
- “European Journal of Cancer”; Mind and cancer: does psychosocial intervention improve survival and psychological well-being?; Dalton SO.; July 2002
