| It may be an age old symbol of emotion, but everyone | | | | failure a likely outcome of the physical effects of |
| knows that the human heart is really nothing more than | | | | depression? The answer, in both cases, is yes. If |
| a pump. Or is it? New research suggests a direct link | | | | you're depressed or anxious, you are more likely to |
| between your state of mind and the state of your | | | | develop a cardiovascular problem. How, exactly? |
| heart. Here's how to keep it ticking happily. | | | | A heart attack is cause by a blocked blood vessel to |
| You've seen it on TV. A hospital humming with urgent | | | | the heart and depression is one of the known |
| activity, the echo of footsteps on shiny floors, a | | | | contributors to the development of such a blockage. |
| roomful of white coated figures, and an unbroken note | | | | Inside the blood vessels we find the lumen, where the |
| that pierces the air. A flurry of gloves, a jolt of | | | | blood is able to flow. Factors such as smoking, high |
| electrical energy, and the note shifts into a regular, | | | | cholesterol and depression can cause fatty deposits to |
| rhythmic pattern. The human heart, pulsing back into | | | | accumulate on the wall, forming a plaque that juts into |
| life. | | | | the lumen. If this plaque becomes damaged or |
| But the industrious organ that shepherds your blood | | | | ruptured, your body's repair system shoots to the |
| and its vital cargo of oxygen through the body is also | | | | rescue, building a blood clot to patch up the gash. |
| an age old symbol of emotion. Be it aching or breaking | | | | But the clot also seals off the artery's lumen, blocking |
| or brimming with love, the heart has always overruled | | | | the blood flow and leading to possible bypass surgery. |
| the brain as the supposed wellspring of the way we | | | | Depression is a risk factor for heart disease, but heart |
| feel. | | | | disease is also a cause of depression. When your |
| As it turns out, this may not be such a fanciful notion. | | | | heart is heavy, you may lose your natural inclination to |
| A growing body of clinical research seems to confirm | | | | get out and get active, and you're more likely to drink |
| what poets and songwriters have long proclaimed. | | | | and smoke and eat the wrong things. Heart failure |
| There's a real and direct link between our hearts and | | | | patients should be screened for depression and |
| our minds. Or to put it in the language of the white | | | | treated when depression is found to be present. This |
| coated figure; psychosocial factors may present | | | | may help to improve the patient's quality of life, and |
| stronger risks for acute myocardial infarction than | | | | potentially improve long term outcomes. |
| diabetes, smoking, hypertension and obesity. Which | | | | But it's not only all up to the doctors. We all need to |
| means that stress at work or home, along with your | | | | learn how to make our hearts happy. The heart is an |
| perceived ability to cope with life, can significantly | | | | easy organ to please. It all begins with proper exercise |
| increase your risk of heart disease. The mortality rate | | | | and nutrition. Nobody can change their family history, |
| in heart failure patients with major depression is two | | | | but we can all do something about the foods we eat |
| and a half times higher than in heart patients without | | | | and the activities we do. |
| depression. | | | | A healthy diet consists of the four essentials: Fats, |
| Yet, depression in heart failure patients often goes | | | | Fiber, Fruit and Vegetables. |
| undiagnosed. This is partly because of the overlap in | | | | Your body doesn't need a lot of fat to stay healthy, so |
| the symptoms of the two conditions (among them: | | | | try to keep your fat intake low. Fiber is a must |
| fatigue, loss of energy, poor appetite, and sleep | | | | because it lowers your cholesterol and fills you up so |
| disturbance) and partly because many patients see | | | | you eat less. Physical activity is equally important. It |
| depression as a character weakness or personality | | | | boosts your circulation, reduces stress levels and |
| flaw, when it's really a common clinical condition that | | | | stimulates the release of happy hormones or |
| affects as many as one out of five patients with heart | | | | endorphins. Even if you have a heart condition, |
| disease. | | | | exercise can help you get back on track. |
| It is here that the big question of cause and effect | | | | Goal number one? Do whatever it takes to keep your |
| comes to mind. Is depression a natural consequence | | | | heart happy. Love your body. Live your life. And above |
| of the life changing impact of heart failure? Or is heart | | | | all, never lose heart. |