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A study has found that women who suffer from depression have an increased risk of having a stroke.
The study, part of the long-running Nurses' Health Study, which has been tracking the health of 80,000 women across the U.S., ages 54 to 79, since 1976 has determined that while depression is not a direct cause of stroke, many underlying factors associated with depression increase the risk of stroke in many women.
Referring to data from the study collected from 2000 to 2006, researchers noted that at the beginning of the study, 22 percent of the women had reported being diagnosed with depression or with a history of depression, though there were no instances of stroke within the group. During the course of the research, 1,033 women suffered from a stroke.
Researchers discovered that a diagnosis of depression increased the risk of stroke by 41 percent. A history of depression increased the risk of stroke by 23 percent, though they found these numbers too low to indicate an overall risk. Those who had both a current diagnosis and a history of depression had a 29 percent risk of stroke and those who took antidepressants had a 39 percent risk.
Doctors state that the correlation between depression and stroke is that depressed women are less likely to be concerned about their health.
"This research appears to indicate that women suffering from depression may be less motivated to maintain good health or control other medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which have an associated increased risk of stroke,” said Dr Peter Coleman, deputy director of research at the UK's Stroke Association.
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The study found that women with current or a history of depression were more likely than women without depression to be single, smokers and less physically active.
Depressed women were more likely to be younger, overweight and have health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, that left untreated can lead to stroke.
It also found that women who took antidepressants had more serious levels of depression and took less care of their health.
"Depression can prevent individuals from controlling other medical problems such as diabetes and hypertension, from taking medications regularly or pursuing other healthy lifestyle measures such as exercise. All these factors could contribute to increased risk," said Dr. Kathryn Rexrode, lead author in the research.
The study, published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, urges physicians to take more care in treating patients with depression as well as addressing other health factors that could possibly be affected because of depression.
According to Coleman, more research must be done to uncover a direct link between stroke and depression, but with this study, depression has definitely been noted as a risk factor.
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