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Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: heart + depression + may  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

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Heart troubles may lead to depression

DALLAS — Dale Briggs knew something was wrong, even though his heart-valve surgery had gone all right. An avid reader, he couldn't concentrate on books, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat.

"I was having a lot of symptoms that I didn't even relate to depression," said Briggs, 60, of Clovis, Calif. But glancing at a list of symptoms in his doctor's office, he realized he had all of them except suicidal thoughts.

As many as half of all people hospitalized for surgery or other procedures to treat blocked heart arteries develop depression, according to a report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Doctors believe the depression is brought on by the mental stress of facing serious illness, or perhaps by microscopic damage done to the brain by the surgery. For some, the depression is a new thing; for others, it may have been present beforehand.

It may have played a role in the apparent suicide of a Maryland publisher and former diplomat whose body was found earlier this month after he went sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

The family of Philip Merrill said he underwent heart surgery more than a year ago and became fatigued and unmotivated.

The good news for the more than 71 million Americans suffering from some type of cardiovascular disease is that not only is depression treatable, but more than half of patients respond to initial drug treatment and 80 percent eventually respond to at least one antidepressant, research says.

Such drugs soon had Briggs back on his feet. He now helps run Mended Hearts, a support group that hopes to keep fewer heart patients from going through what he did.

Guidelines advise doctors to look for depression in heart patients, and simple questionnaires are available to help them do this, but specialists say that not enough doctors are checking for this problem.

"It's something that's very under-recognized," said Dr. Mary Whooley, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who wrote the JAMA report about depression in heart patients.

Depression is present in one of five people with coronary heart disease and in one of three with heart failure — far more than the one in 20 in the general population who have it, Whooley wrote.

Depression raises the risk of developing cardiac problems. But even people who were not depressed beforehand can develop "situational depression" when faced with a health crisis or major surgery. "The stress of the illness is a factor," Whooley said.

Studies have shown that after bypass surgery, microclots can travel to the brain and cause problems, including depression, said Dr. Cara East, medical director of the clinical cardiovascular research center at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas.

Treating depression can have physical benefits as well. Depressed people are less likely to exercise or regularly take their medication — things that can prevent heart problems from getting worse.

Most antidepressants help make the blood less likely to clot, which may help prevent a recurrence of cardiac problems, said Dr. Ranga Krishnan, head of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and a consultant for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

Heart rate at orgasmic level after winning bet

LONDON -- Soccer fan Henrik Gerdin is a contented man.

His team scored a late equalizer, he won a bet and his heart rate officially rose above orgasm level.

The 25-year-old Swede was part of an ongoing World Cup experiment by England's Loughborough University, sponsored by the gambling website betfair.com, to test the effect that placing a bet on a game of soccer has on fans' heart rates.

"The heart rates that we have recorded throughout the first stage of the study are in line with those experienced by an individual reaching sexual climax, and in some cases greater than that," said Loughborough's Professor Ron Maughan, whose research expertise includes nutrition of exercise performance.

The study will last as long as England remains in the World Cup and measures levels of stress - or excitement - experienced by English fans and supporters of teams playing England.

Gerdin bet 100 pounds ($200 Cdn) at 20-1 on Sweden drawing 2-2 with England in their Group B match.

Henrik Larsson scored a 90th minute equalizer in the June 20 encounter for a full-time score of 2-2, triggering wild celebrations.

"He was literally going crazy," said Simon Greening, an England fan also participating in the experiment. "I would have been too."

All participating fans were paid 100 pounds by betfair.com and half the supporters were required to place a bet.

"It was a gut feeling," Gerdin said yesterday of his winning bet. "I was thinking about it the whole day and just went for it."

He won 2,000 pounds ($4,000 Cdn).

So far, says betfair.com, the results show betting on the World Cup can be more exciting than sex, to judge by your heart rate at least.

"We knew that football fans were passionate about their team, but these results really prove that for some football is better than sex," Maughan said.

EATING, SLEEPING, SEX

DUISBURG, Germany -- Italy's Fabio Cannavaro has been one of the top performers at this World Cup and the defender says his recipe for success is "eating, sleeping and sex."

"I've conducted myself in a certain manner for years and it's worked," Cannavaro said yesterday.

"Sex, when you need it, definitely helps," Cannavaro said. "Eating well is extremely important, it gives you the fuel to keep going. I try to eat little but a bit of everything.

''And sleeping has its part, too. I don't drink and I don't smoke."

Italy's defence have not allowed opponents to score through four games at this World Cup.

Heart attack patients are being given potentially lifesaving drugs faster in some areas than others.

A report published by the Royal College of Physicians has found most hospitals in Surrey are making sure people receive a clotbusting drug within half an hour of arriving at hospital. The earlier the patient gets the drug, the greater their chance of survival.

East Surrey Hospital in Redhill exceeded the national target to ensure 75% of patients had the thrombolytic treatment they needed within half an hour of arriving at hospital. During 2005/6 the hospital ensured 79% of patients received the treatment within 30 minutes of arrival.

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Hospitals should also aim to offer the treatment within 60 minutes of a patient calling for help. In this case East Surrey Hospital fell way below the national target of 68%, with only 44% of patients receiving "pre-hospital" treatment within an hour of calling a doctor or ambulance.

The hospital exceeded the average figures for the county. Across Surrey, hospitals managed to offer thrombolytic treatment to 63% of patients within half an hour of arrival but just 2% of patients received the treatment prior to being admitted within an hour of calling for help.

However the report did point out that some NHS organisations face specific challenges, especially in rural areas where journey times are longer or in cities where heavy traffic causes delays.

Swift treatment is often key to the survival of heart attack victims.

Thrombolytic drugs re-open blocked coronary arteries that cause heart attacks.