Women with depression have worse heart health than men: study

By Sharin Hussain via SWNS

Women with depression have worse heart health than men who also suffer low mood.

They are more prone to angina, stroke and other heart problems, according to researchers at the University of Tokyo.

Dr. Hidehiro Kaneko, assistant professor and a corresponding author said: “The identification of sex-specific factors in the adverse effects of depression on cardiovascular outcomes may help in the development of targeted prevention and treatment strategies that address the specific CVD risks faced by depressed patients.

“A better understanding will allow healthcare providers to optimize care for both men and women with depression, leading to improved CVD outcomes for these populations.”

The study, published in the journal JACC: Asia, investigates the connection between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction (MI), angina pectoris, stroke, heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF).

They also find the importance of tailoring CVD prevention and management strategies based on sex-specific factors.

According to another study, depression is the third leading cause of morbidity worldwide.

Researchers conducted an investigation between depression and CVD by using the JMDC Claims Database between 2005 and 2022.

Over four million people aged 36 to 52 participated, and around two million participants were men.

Depression was defined as those clinically diagnosed before their initial health checkup.

The study collected their body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and fasting laboratory values at their initial health checkup.

Researchers analyzed the differences in clinical characteristics between participants with and without depression.

Results indicate that the hazard ratio of depression for CVD was 1.39 in men and 1.64 in women compared with participants without depression.

This also indicated ratios of depression for MI, angina pectoris, stroke, HF, and AF were higher for women than for men.

The authors suggest that women may experience more severe and persistent symptoms of depression compared to men.

Other factors that were considered were hypertension, diabetes and obesity, which may contribute to the development of CVD.

Dr. Kaneko concludes: “Our study found that the impact of sex differences on the association between depression and cardiovascular outcomes was consistent.

“Healthcare professionals must recognize the important role of depression in the development of CVD and emphasize the importance of a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to its prevention and management.

“Assessing the risk of CVD in depressed patients and treating and preventing depression may lead to a decrease of CVD cases.”