Psychosomatics 1996; 37:31-37
Copyright © 1996 by Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH REPORTS |
Cardiovascular risk factors in depression. The role of anxiety and anger
M Fava, M Abraham, J Pava, J Shuster and J Rosenbaum
Depression Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.
The authors hypothesized that patients with anxious or hostile depression
may have a greater risk of mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD)
than other depressed patients and therefore proceeded to assess the
possible relationship between CAD risk factors and anger and anxiety in a
sample of 138 depressed outpatients. The authors observed that increased
anxiety scores were associated with higher cholesterol levels and with
prolonged QTc intervals. Similarly, the patients with anger attacks tended
to have higher cholesterol levels compared with the patients without these
attacks. The study's findings partially support the authors' hypothesis
that hostile or anxious depressed patients are at greater risk for CAD than
other depressed patients.
