From Your Health Journal…..”A great article from E Science News called New evidence for link between depression and heart disease. The article points to the fact that an inflammatory biomarker, interleukin-6, was significantly higher in the blood of 48 patients diagnosed with major depression than it was in 20 healthy controls. Interleukin-6 has been associated with cardiovascular disease. We have reported how stress is a major contributor to poor health and heart disease many times here, so this news does support the case stress has a negative impact to your health. The main thing is to focus on how to reduce stress and depression. Some people need medication, some counseling, some get relief in exercise. Please take the time to visit the E Science News web site (link provided below) to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

A Loyola University Medical Center psychiatrist is proposing a new subspecialty to diagnose and treat patients who suffer both depression and heart disease. He’s calling it “Psychocardiology.” In his most recent study, Angelos Halaris, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that an inflammatory biomarker, interleukin-6, was significantly higher in the blood of 48 patients diagnosed with major depression than it was in 20 healthy controls.

Interleukin-6 has been associated with cardiovascular disease. Halaris presented his findings at a joint congress of the World Psychiatric Association and International Neuropsychiatric Association in Athens, Greece. At the congress, Halaris formally proposed creation of a new Psychocardiology subspecialty.

Forty to 60 percent of heart disease patients suffer clinical depression and 30 to 50 percent of patients who suffer clinical depression are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, Halaris said.

Stress is the key to understanding the association between depression and heart disease. Stress can lead to depression, and depression, in turn, can become stressful. The body’s immune system fights stress as it would fight a disease or infection. In response to stress, the immune system produces proteins called cytokines, including interleukin-6. Initially, this inflammatory response protects against stress. But over time, a chronic inflammatory response can lead to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and cardiovascular disease.

It’s a vicious cycle: depression triggers a chronic inflammation, which leads to heart disease, which causes depression, which leads to more heart disease. Clinical depression typically begins in young adults. “Treating depression expertly and vigorously in young age can help prevent cardiovascular disease later on,” Halaris said.

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