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Depression link to cardiovascular disease in men (19 January 2017)

Date: 19/01/2017
Duncan Lewis, Personal Injury Solicitors, Depression link to cardiovascular disease in men

Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the German Center for Cardiovascular Disease (DZHK) have found that depression poses a risk for cardiovascular diseases in men that is just as great as that posed by high cholesterol levels and obesity.

The researchers analysed data from 3,428 male patients aged between 45 and 74 years and observed their development over a period of ten years.

The research is based on a prospective population-based data set from the MONICA/KORA-Study, which spans 25 years – one of the few large studies in Europe that allows such an analysis, said statistician Dr Jens Baumert of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 350 million people worldwide are affected by depression.

The researchers compared the impact of depression with the five major risk factors – high cholesterol levels, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes.

“Today there is little doubt that depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases,” said Professor Dr Karl-Heinz Ladwig – group leader at the Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, and professor of psychosomatic medicine at TUM's Klinikum.

“The question now is, what is the relationship between depression and other risk factors like tobacco smoke, high cholesterol levels, obesity or hypertension – how big a role does each factor play?”


Viewed across the male population, a depressive disorder was diagnosed in approximately 15% of the cardiovascular deaths. For obesity and diabetes, this number was below 10% and for smoking it was around 17%.

With high blood pressure, however, the figure for depression rates was nearly 30%.

Prof Dr Karl-Heinz Ladwig said:

“We invested a great deal of time in this work, starting with the long observation period.

“Our investigation shows that the risk of a fatal cardiovascular disease due to depression is almost as great as that due to elevated cholesterol levels or obesity.”

As a result, Prof Ladwig proposed that, in high-risk patients, the diagnostic investigation of co-morbid depression should be a standard procedure.”


The results of the study are published in the journal Atherosclerosis.

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