I would be interested in knowing what 'hard on the heart' means. They mention it can lead to cardiovascular disease, but I understand that to be kind of a vague term.<p>I am a fairly healthy young guy and I have extremely high blood pressure. Every doctor I've seen has been unable to identify a cause through testing, dietary changes, fluctuation of exercise, etc. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and have had major bouts of depression my whole life. More so since getting a job as a developer. Any data connecting the depression and HBP would be really helpful.
From the paper (DEEX - "Depressed mood and exhaustion"):<p>"Nonetheless, adding DEEX to a risk score based on classical risk factors resulted in only nonsignificant
improvement of mortality risk prediction."<p>Regarding the causal relationship:<p>"Although not a proof of causality, in general, depressed subjects are more likely to cluster self-harming lifestyle behaviors and may be less likely to adhere to
prescribed medication."<p>To put things in context it is also worth noting that, except in old age, a big increase in the risk of death at any given point of time translates into a very small reduction in life expectancy. See for example <a href="http://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2012/11/10/mortality-and-life-expectancy/" rel="nofollow">http://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2012/11/10/mortality-a...</a>
Recent research suggests that chronic inflammation may cause depression [1]. Therefore the root cause may be inflammation, leading to both depression and heart disease. (Of course biology is never that simple and there are probably loops and feedbacks.)<p>[1] Summary: <a href="http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/01/05/chronic-psychitis/" rel="nofollow">http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/01/05/chronic-psychitis/</a>
That's exactly what my cardiologist explained to me after my heart attack (myocardial infarction) -- that cholesterol and obesity account (in his anecdotal way of speaking) for only half of cases. I was in great shape at the time (hiked > 4 miles in hills every day), but very stressed and depressed.
What most people forget is that mental diseases are associated with physical diseases. Depression is positively associated with Type 2 diabetes, oral cancer, psoriasis, arthritis [1]. Stress is positively associated with poor sleep. Anxiety is positively associated with coronary heart disease. When you are in poor mental health (stress, anxiety, depression), it will impact your heart, digestive system and immune system, and vice-versa.<p>Source [1]: <a href="http://outcomereference.com/outcomes/5-Depression" rel="nofollow">http://outcomereference.com/outcomes/5-Depression</a>
Depression also has been linked to worse medication adherence following cardiac incidents which could have an impact on mortality. Check out the SADHART trial.
Interesting observation, although there's also a lot of studies published that have shown a strong correlation between depression and obesity, which in turn is strongly linked to heart disease. I wonder if the researchers have controlled for this confounding factor somehow? (haven't had time to read the actual research paper yet)
Especially if your government doesn't give you access to a therapist b/c your health care system is a bad joke or if you don't want to suffer side-effects due to anti-depressants, then do :<p>1. Mindful meditation [free] -> Daily practice (30+ minutes)<p>John Kabat-Zinn [0] masters the link between science and meditation and has published very valuable books (including guided/audio meditation exercises) [1]. There are a couple of scientific studies which prove effectiveness [2] [3].<p>2. LSD [$5-10/dose + $25/multi-use test kit] -> One-time experience (every 6 months max.)<p>LSD however requires one to literally read/understand/know everything about the substance before applying it (minimum literature: "The psychedelic explorer's guide" by Fadiman). Also, order a test kit and test before you ingest. Certain "edge cases"/people should not try it and educating yourself about everything will allow you to decide if it's a good idea in your case or not. In addition, you may be able to access your spiritual dimension, which increases quality of life even further (it is less immediate with meditation).<p>You may combine micro-dosing LSD with meditation for accessing the meditative state easier (it's quite a challenge for depressed people).<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn</a><p>[1] <a href="https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4180277/Mindful_Way_Through_Depression_-_Guided_Meditation_Practices" rel="nofollow">https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4180277/Mindful_Way_Through...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain" rel="nofollow">http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to...</a><p>[3] <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214697/meditation-brain-neuroscience" rel="nofollow">http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214697/meditation-brain-neuros...</a>
My heart often tells me when something is amiss. For example, if I'm about to buy excessive amounts of junk food and alcohol I sometimes feel a twinge emanating from the chest region. I acknowledge and interpret this as my brain's <i>anticipation</i> of the price that will be paid.<p>But what if things have gone more badly wrong? If the heart seems to say one thing whilst ideas (the ones I can name) say something else? One way to resolve the conflict is simply to censor the bodily signals. (Fear can do this sort of thing.)<p>Yet there are physiological consequences, because the brain has two roles: (1) to run the mind, (2) to regulate the body. And withdrawing attention from bodily signals has consequences for health, I guess due to a concomitant weakening of the controlling function.