How Depression Affects Women With Heart Disease By itself, clinical depression can affect the physical well being of women in many ways. Unfortunately, depression is also commonly an outcome of other diseases, causing even greater damage to women's physical health. Studies show that there is a higher incidence of clinical depression in patients suffering from a disease such as heart disease. A study by the U.K. Department of Public Health concluded that a cardiovascular event is often associated with an increased risk of depression. Women are particularly affected, since the female population in general suffers from depression in greater numbers than men.
Rehabilitation is the key to reducing the risk of a second attack.
That includes promoting good mental health. Diagnosing and treating depression in heart disease patients, therefore, becomes an essential element for a full recovery from a heart attack. Thirty-eight percent of women who have heart attacks die within a year, compared with 25 percent of men. The death rate for coronary heart disease is about 154.7 for African-American women and 135.0 for Caucasian women. The rate of new and recurrent heart attacks is 13.3 per 1,000 African-American women between the ages of 65 and 74 and 7.8 percent for Caucasian women in the same age range.