My grandfather died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Heart disease runs in my family and I am always interested in new risk factors. I came across an article explaining a possible link between depression and heart disease and it intrigued me. I am eighteen years old and although that seems young for someone to have a heart attack, it is possible. I am not depressed and I consider myself to have a stable mindset, but I found this article interesting because I always want to be aware of what could increase my chances of having a heart attack.

According to a CNN article, a new study suggests that women are twice as likely to suffer from heart disease if they have depression. 3,237 people with anticipated or established heart disease participated in the study. On the same day of the study they were asked to answer questions about their state of mind. The results showed that women under the age of 55 who had moderate to severe depression had double the chance of experiencing a heart attack and they were twice as likely to have heart disease. Participants older than 55 with moderate to severe depression did not show the same risk. Previous research also supports these results. A study done in 2012 by John Hopkins University concluded that depressed women between the ages of 17 to 39 were more likely to have heart disease after testing 7,000 adults.

Although both of these studies showed the same results and both studies tested a large amount of people for the study to be accurate, the results still are not convincing. First of all this study does not rule out reverse causation. There is a clear correlation between depression and heart disease/ heart attacks in young women. However, it is possible that the early onset of heart disease or heart attack could cause the patient to be depressed. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “People with heart disease are more likely to suffer from depression than otherwise healthy people” (Depression and Heart Disease). This proves that it is very likely that the results could be due to reverse causation. The study is also observational and therefore it does not rule out third variables.  An outside variable could be causing young women to undergo depression and get heart disease.

The article also states that people are sometimes not aware that they are depressed. This could be a major error in the results. When the participants answered the survey questions about their state of mind, they could have answered incorrectly because they might be unaware of how to classify their current feelings. In addition to this, the final result states that young women who have depression are twice as likely to have heart disease. This statement is a relative risk. There is no comparison presented here, it is unclear as to what the original risk is and therefore the severity of the risk is unknown.

In conclusion, there is no evidence to accurately prove that depression causes heart disease but there is a distinct correlation between the two.  Scientists say that it is important to treat both depression and heart disease in order to prevent yourself from having either of them. The best way to do that is to exercise. The reason why exercise helps both depression and heart problems is because exercising causes your body to release endorphins which will interact with the receptors in your brain that lower your pain perception (WebMD).