IS THERE SOMETHING OUT THERE THAT DOESN'T SHORTEN MY LIFE SPAN?NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research indicates that anxiety and depression are risk factors for major heart-related events among patients with stable coronary artery disease.
"We found that both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder were more common in cardiac patients than in the general community. More importantly, both predicted about a doubling in risk for major cardiac events over two years," study chief Dr. Nancy Frasure-Smith, from the University of Montreal, told Reuters Health.
"Now that we know that both generalized anxiety disorder and major depression are markers of increased cardiac risk, it is imperative that these patients receive the best evidence-based treatment for both their cardiac and psychiatric conditions," Frasure-Smith emphasized.
"Extra efforts are justified in helping them change their cardiac risk factors, assure treatment compliance, and improve their emotional and social functioning," she added.
By Anthony J. Brown, MD Sat Jan 12, 10:04 AM ET
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, January 2008.
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