Stroke Risk High in Depressed Women

Women who are depressed are at an increased risk of suffering from stroke, a new research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association revealed. Researchers in United States made use of data from the four decade long Nurses' Health Study which has followed the progress of women volunteers since 1970s. The researchers looked at data of more than 80,000 women, all of whom were aged between 54 to 79 years, during the period from 2000 to 2006. Around 22 percent of the women were found to suffer from depression at the start of the study.

The researchers found that those women who were depressed at the start of the study were 29 percent more likely to suffer from strokes compared to others while the risk went up to 39 percent among those who took anti-depressants such as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

“Depression can prevent individuals from controlling other medical problems such as diabetes and hypertension, from taking medications regularly or pursuing other healthy lifestyle measures such as exercise. All these factors could contribute to increased risk”, lead researcher Dr Kathryn Rexrode said.


Source-Medindia