Depression literally breaks the hearts of old people
Researchers at Tulane University, working under the guidance of Dr. Wenjie Sun, analyzed the data contained in the medical records and questionnaires of almost 63,000 Hong Kong pensioners. These documents have been collected for several decades by Hong Kong medical centers specializing in the care of elderly people.
The results of the study surprised scientists. It turned out that depression increases the risk of men dying from coronary heart disease by 40%. This goes against the results of earlier studies, according to which a pronounced correlation between depression and the risk of death from diseases of the cardiovascular system is not only characteristic of both sexes, but also slightly more pronounced for women.
This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the material analyzed by the authors is much larger than the material used in earlier works. At the same time, statistical comparisons were carried out with adjustments for other risk factors, such as smoking, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption and health status.
The authors also note that during the work they did not delve into the explanation of the causes of the revealed pattern and that further research is needed for this. They suggest that men are more likely to suffer from more severe forms of depression and are much less likely to seek help from specialists and social services than women. In addition, genetic and hormonal differences may play a role.
In any case, the data obtained demonstrate the need for screening older men to identify symptoms of depression and take timely preventive measures.
Article by Wen Jie Sun et al. Are Depressive Symptoms Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality Among Older Chinese: A Cohort Study of 64,000 People in Hong Kong? published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Tulane University:
Depression is literally a heartbreaker for older men.
18.10.2013