Post-stroke depression (PID) is the most common psychological disorder after suffering this cerebrovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in adult women. Until now, depression has always been associated with a post-stroke disorder, but new research by an international team of experts suggests otherwise. Published in Neurologythe study shows that People with depression are at greater risk of suffering a stroke. ischemic or hemorrhagic. Almost the double compared to those without such symptoms.
The work covered a large sample: it analyzed 26,877 adults from 32 countries on several continents. they had a average age 62 years and more than half have suffered a stroke. The researchers matched them with another group of 13,000 participants who had not, but who were similar in age, sex and ethnicity. Everyone filled out questionnaires about cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, while being asked about their mental state.
They were asked, for example, whether they had felt sad, lonely or depressed for 2 or more consecutive weeks during the 12 months that the experiment lasted. To test whether participants might have a chronically depressed mood, the researchers asked whether they had given up on improving their lives. They also recorded whether participants had ever taken antidepressants. The results? People with symptoms of depression have had 46% increased risk of stroke than those without such symptoms.
The more depression, the greater the risk of stroke
Furthermore, subjects who four or more symptoms of depression they had a higher risk of stroke than those with fewer symptoms. In fact, those who declared they had “given up on improving their lives” ran an even greater risk of facing one. On the other hand, the people taking antidepressants did not have the same increased risk of stroke than those who had symptoms of depression and were not receiving antidepressant treatment.
The study also found that although people with depression did not have more severe strokes, they did they had worse results a month later of stroke. In other words, recovery from the disease was considerably more difficult.
Many experts from around the world have commented on this finding, noting that “this association between more severe depression and stroke risk It definitely deserves more exploration. and may be clinically significant.” Dr. Curtis Benesch, medical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at the University of Rochester in New York, made this comparison, speaking to the newspaper MedicalNewsToday: “As we know that smoking causes lung cancer and that a person who smokes every day is more likely to develop tumors earlier than one who smokes every 6 months, these findings must be considered as a dose-response relationship.”
Although the mechanisms that increase risk may not be clear, this study demonstrates a fundamental relationship between depression and a greater likelihood of having a stroke, as well as poorer recovery after it. This suggests Potential therapeutic avenues that may be effective and were not being taken into consideration until now in Primary Care, such as the prescription of psychological interventions.
This is not the first time that attempts have been made to prove the relationship between depression and stroke, but it is the most important
On the other hand, it should be noted that several studies had already related depression with heart disease and stroke. A 2011 meta-analysis showed that depression significantly increased the risk of stroke and that the increase was likely independent of other risk factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes. However, this study could not determine whether there was a causal effect.
A larger meta-analysis published the same year, which analyzed 28 prospective studies, concluded that depression is prospectively associated with a significantly increased risk of developing a stroke. Another 2020 study found that people with symptoms of depression were more likely to develop heart disease or having a stroke. Although the association was modest, it was present even in people whose symptoms were below the level of a depressive disorder.
What is depression? How do I know if I have it and what are the symptoms?
Depression affects around 280 million people worldwide and is almost twice as common in women. Psychological symptoms of depression include persistently depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, difficulty concentrating, and even suicidal thoughts. Additionally, depression can cause physical symptoms such as fatigue, lack of appetite, headaches, chronic pain and digestive problems.
