Depression puts women at risk of chronic diseases: Study
| Jun 4, 2019, 13:12 IST
A new study found women who suffer from depression are more likely to develop chronic diseases. The study's findings were originally published in the American Psychological Association of Health Psychology
"These days many people suffer from multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. We looked at how women progress in the development of these chronic diseases before and after the onset of depressive symptoms," Xiaolin Xu from the University of Queensland in Australia, told a news portal.
For the study, researchers examined data of close to7,407 middle-aged women (between 45 to 50 years) for almost 20 years. Over the course of the study, 43. 2 per cent of the women developed depression and only half of them were diagnosed with the mental health condition or sought treatment. The team also noted 2,035 (63.6 per cent) of the women developed multiple chronic diseases.
The team also discovered that women who suffered both depression and chronic diseases were likely to be from low-income households, smoke tobacco, drink alcohol and be overweight."Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and reducing harmful behaviours could help prevent and slow the progression of multiple chronic diseases," Xu told a news portal.
Previous research has also found heart disease patients are like to suffer depression. “Human patients with heart failure often have neurological conditions such as cognitive impairment and depression,”Martino, who is working in the field of circadian medicine, told a news portal. Adding, "If we're not yet able to cure heart failure, we should at least be focusing on how we can improve quality of life for patients." The findings of this study were originally published in the Journal Scientific Reports.
"These days many people suffer from multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. We looked at how women progress in the development of these chronic diseases before and after the onset of depressive symptoms," Xiaolin Xu from the University of Queensland in Australia, told a news portal.
For the study, researchers examined data of close to7,407 middle-aged women (between 45 to 50 years) for almost 20 years. Over the course of the study, 43. 2 per cent of the women developed depression and only half of them were diagnosed with the mental health condition or sought treatment. The team also noted 2,035 (63.6 per cent) of the women developed multiple chronic diseases.
The team also discovered that women who suffered both depression and chronic diseases were likely to be from low-income households, smoke tobacco, drink alcohol and be overweight."Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, and reducing harmful behaviours could help prevent and slow the progression of multiple chronic diseases," Xu told a news portal.
Previous research has also found heart disease patients are like to suffer depression. “Human patients with heart failure often have neurological conditions such as cognitive impairment and depression,”Martino, who is working in the field of circadian medicine, told a news portal. Adding, "If we're not yet able to cure heart failure, we should at least be focusing on how we can improve quality of life for patients." The findings of this study were originally published in the Journal Scientific Reports.