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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : June 4, 2014 4:58 PM IST
An early prevention and treatment of childhood depression can reduce adult cardiovascular disease, shows a study. Depressed children are likely to be obese, smoke and be inactive that can lead to heart disease as early as their teen years. Further, researchers observed higher rates of heart disease in the parents of adolescents that had been depressed as children. "We were quite surprised to find that the parents of the affected adolescents were reporting a history of heart attacks and other serious events," said associate professor of psychology Jonathan Rottenberg at University of South Florida in the US. Rottenberg and his team compared heart disease risk factors - such as smoking, obesity, physical activity level and parental history - across three categories of adolescents.
The investigators surveyed over 200 children with a history of clinical depression, as well as about 200 of their siblings who have never suffered from depression. They also gathered information from more than 150 unrelated children of the same age and gender with no history of depression. Rottenberg plans to conduct additional research in order to understand why depression early in life may put people at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Cardiologists have long known a link exists between depression and heart disease. Depressed adults are more likely to suffer a heart attack, and if they do have a heart attack, it's more likely to be fatal.
Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
The research is published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
What is depression?
As an illness, depression is as debilitating as a heart disease or HIV/AIDS. Those who suffer from the condition often describe the feeling as having a black cloud over their heads, which prevents them from enjoying anything or even functioning normally. One out of 20 people in the world suffer from depression but sadly many of them are forced to live in denial about the disease.
Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of depression.
So how is depression different from sadness?
Sadness is part of the life without which happiness would have no meaning. To feel sad during major life crises like the death of a loved one, losing a job or the ending of a relationship is normal. Depression on the other hand is a condition where there is prolonged sadness and an individual's mood isn't tied to life events. While healthy individuals have moods related to life events, people suffering from depression suffer from disproportionate amount of sadness and guilt. It is a serious medical condition in which the symptoms make it difficult for the person to function in society, often leads to poor physical health and severe emotional pain.
How common is depression?
One out of every 20 people you know probably suffers from depression. The numbers are hard to pin down for a mental illness like depression because the symptoms are seen as a continuation of everyday-life behaviour. However, considering that 1.8 lakh Indians commit suicide every year and there are 20 times more attempts, which mean at least 36 lakh people in India are surely suffering from major depressive disorder. Read on
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