Combining stress and depression dramatically ups your heart risk. You’ve probably heard a lot about how stress can damage your heart, but a new study has found that stress combined with depression may signal an increased the risk of having a heart attack. “Researchers looking at the effect of significant stress and deep depression on nearly 4,500 patients with heart disease called the pairing a ‘psychosocial perfect storm.’ The combination of high stress and high depression symptoms may be particularly harmful for adults with heart disease during an early vulnerability period. Those who reported both high stress and high depression were 48 percent more likely than those with low stress and low depression to have another heart attack or die in the first 2.5 years of follow-up.” Experts point out that the findings are an association and don’t show cause and effect. But the findings could help providers identify those individuals most at risk who may need extra attention

Living Life Longer  Learn More