Researchers Study the Association between Major Depression and Heart Disease

By Sathya Achia Abraham

Over time, people who suffer from heart disease may be at an increased risk for developing major depression more than vice versa, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.

The findings help researchers better understand the magnitude and nature of the inter-relationship in risk between depression and coronary artery disease.

The results of the research, led by Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., professor of psychiatry and human genetics in VCU’s School of Medicine are reported in the August issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

“Although coronary artery disease and major depression frequently co-occur, we do not well understand why. This study showed, in a large and very carefully collected sample, that having coronary artery disease produces a substantial and long-lasting increase in risk for major depression,” said Kendler.

“By contrast, the effect of depression on risk for coronary artery disease is more acute with any long-term effects arising only with further repeated episodes of depression. Depression and coronary artery disease share, to a modest degree, genetic risk factors and this effect is stronger in women than in men,” he said.

VCU researchers, together with researchers from West Virginia University, the University of Southern California and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, evaluated the lifetime association between major depression and heart disease among 30,374 twin pairs who were a mean age of 57 years. The twin pairs were from the Swedish Twin Registry.

All participants were assessed through personal interviews for a history of major depression during their lifetime through a questionnaire. Hospital discharge papers and death certificates were obtained in Sweden and used to assess history of heart disease.

“This is by far the largest sample of elderly twins available in the world,” said Kendler.

The study was supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Aging, the Swedish Scientific Council, and the Swedish Department of Higher Education.

Collaborating with Kendler were VCU researcher Charles Gardner, Ph.D., Amy Fiske, Ph.D., with West Virginia University; and Margaret Gatz, Ph.D., with the University of Southern California and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.