health & wellness

Depression Can Double
Women's Stroke Risk

D

epressed middle-aged
women have almost double
the risk of having a stroke,
according to research published in

Stroke: Journal of the American Heart
Association.
In a 12-year Australian study
of 10,547 women 47 - 52 years old,
researchers found that depressed
women had a 2.4 times increased
risk of stroke compared to those
who weren't depressed. Even after
researchers eliminated several factors
that increase stroke risks, depressed
women were still 1.9 times more
likely to have a stroke.
"When treating women, doctors
need to recognize the serious nature
of poor mental health and what effects
it can have in the long term:' said
Caroline Jackson, Ph.D., study author
and an epidemiologist in the School
of Population Health at the University
of Queensland in Australia. "Current
guidelines for stroke prevention
tend to overlook the potential role of
depression:'
This is the first large-scale study in
which researchers examined the asso-
ciation between depression and stroke
in younger, middle-aged women.
The closest comparison is with the
U.S.-based Nurses' Health Study,
which found a 30 percent higher risk
of stroke among depressed women.

It may be beautiful on the
outside but it's what's on the
inside that counts

F

Signs Of A Stroke

Recognize a stroke and act fast
by calling 911. Remember F.A.S.T.
and the symptoms that come on
suddenly:
F - Face drooping
A - Arm weakness
S - Speech difficulty
T - Time to call 911
To learn more about stroke
prevention, visit www.stroke
association.org/STROKEORG.

However, the average participant's
age in the Nurses' study was 14 years
older.
Although the increased stroke risk
associated with depression was large
in this study, the absolute risk of
stroke is still fairly low for this age
group, Jackson said.
About 2.1 percent of American
women in their 40s and 50s suffer
from stroke. In the study, only about
1.5 percent of all women had a stroke.
That number increased to slightly
more than 2 percent among women
suffering from depression.
It's still unclear why depression may
be strongly linked to stroke in this age
group. The body's inflammatory and
immunological processes and their
effects on blood vessels may be part of
the reasons, Jackson said.

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T

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