Why Women Have Higher Risk Than Men Of Heart Disease And Depression

●     Studies are showing that women diagnosed with depression have a higher risk of heart disease compared to men with depression.

●     The role of hormones and inflammation in the body are believed to be key contributors to this increased risk of cardiovascular issues.

●     This highlights the need for medical professionals to enhance their screening processes for depression in both men and women.

Recent research published in the journal JACC: Asia has found that women are much more likely than men to get heart disease after being diagnosed with depression.

Heart disease can include things like heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and irregular heartbeats. In the EU, over 43% of women are dealing with heart disease, and women are also more likely to experience depression than men.

The study suggests that heart doctors should pay more attention to checking their patients for signs of depression.

Understanding this connection better could help doctors take care of people with depression in a way that also helps prevent heart problems.

This study looked into medical records from 2005 to 2022, checking out over 4 million people's health to see who had depression and later got diagnosed with heart disease.

The participants were a mix of men and women, with an average age of 44. To be considered as having depression in this study, a person needed an official diagnosis before any heart disease was spotted.

The health details reviewed included things like body weight relative to height, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and sugar levels in the blood. The heart problems they looked for included heart attacks, chest pain that keeps coming back, heart failure, and irregular heartbeats.

The researchers crunched the numbers to figure out the "hazard ratios," which is a fancy way of saying the risk of something happening. They found that for men with depression, the risk of getting heart disease was 1.39 times higher.

However, for women, the risk was even higher at 1.64 times. This pattern where women had a higher risk applied to heart attacks, chest pain, strokes, heart failure, and other heart issues.

However, the study had some drawbacks. For example, it didn't dive into the specifics of the participants' depression symptoms or consider how the COVID-19 pandemic might have influenced things. Also, because it was an observational study, it couldn't prove for sure that depression causes heart disease.

Even though movies and society often make it seem like heart attacks are more of a guy thing, the truth is that both men and women have the same risk of having one. But when it comes to getting treatment and surviving a heart attack, women tend to have a more challenging time.

It's essential to know that heart disease is the top reason women pass away. It's more deadly for women than breast, lung, and colon cancer all put together. But a lot of women might ignore the signs because they don't have the "classic" heart attack symptoms like pain in the left arm or feeling like there's a significant weight on their chest.

Women might feel things like chest tightness, trouble breathing, feeling tired, or stomach discomfort instead.

Studies have shown that women have a 20% higher chance of dying within five years after a terrible heart attack. They're also less likely to see a heart doctor in the hospital and might not get prescribed essential medicines that help with heart health, like beta blockers and cholesterol drugs.

Women are much more likely than men to be told they have depression, and there's a lot of curiosity about why that is.

Some researchers think it might be because women often have more robust and longer-lasting symptoms of depression. These intense feelings can lead to habits that might increase the chance of having a heart attack.

On top of that, women go through unique health events like pregnancy and menopause. The significant changes in hormones during these times can affect mental well-being, leading to issues like depression, anxiety, and stress.

Women also tend to have higher rates of conditions that can lead to heart disease, like high blood pressure, diabetes, and being overweight.

The study sheds light on why women have a greater risk of heart disease and how depression plays into this. It points out that women often go through more extended and more intense periods of depression.

Two main factors play a big role here: inflammation in the body and changes in hormones.

Depression and anxiety act like stress on the body, leading to inflammation. This inflammation can increase cortisol levels (a stress hormone) and start a chain reaction that affects the blood vessels all over your body, not just in your heart but also in arteries like the ones in your neck and throughout your body.

When stress, depression, and anxiety keep going on, they cause long-term inflammation that can make blood vessels stiff and lead to the buildup of harmful plaque.

It's also highlighted that women face unique risks because of their hormone changes, especially during different life stages like pregnancy, the years leading up to menopause, and after menopause. These changes can greatly impact both mental and heart health. For example, estrogen, a hormone, helps keep arteries flexible and supports good cholesterol, which protects the heart.

But as women approach menopause and their estrogen levels fluctuate and eventually decrease, they lose some of this protection. This can be a time when many women start experiencing more anxiety and depression.

The takeaway is that doctors should look at the whole person in medicine, especially heart care. This includes checking for signs of depression, no matter what the main reason for the visit is. Both doctors and patients must be open about discussing mental health as part of overall well-being.

Mobi Doctor can provide the help and support you need, whether to understand more about heart health, manage depression, or address any other health concerns.