People who are depressed are at higher risk for stroke
Statistics show that more than 6 percent of American adults have major depressive disorder, a serious mental illness, at some point during the year.
Statistics show that more than 6 percent of American adults have major depressive disorder, a serious mental illness, at some point during the year. Proper care and treatment, which can include a prescription to buy Paxil or other medications, can help patients battle their symptoms, such as fatigue and bodily aches. New research shows that depression can have another physical complication - an increased risk for stroke.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a review of 28 previous studies, a combination of more than 310,000 patients, that investigated the link between depression and stroke. The results showed that subjects diagnosed with depression had a risk increase of 45 percent for total stroke. Their likelihood of developing ischemic stroke, in which the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, went up by 25 percent. The chance of having a deadly stroke increased 55 percent.
Those who survive their stroke may have a long recovery process.
Further research will be needed to determine why people living with depression are more likely to have a stroke. However, the researchers speculated that this may be because of inflammation, problems between the nervous and endocrine systems or because depressed people may engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as poor diet or smoking.
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