NEWS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bobbie Boyd, Director of Public Relations
& Community Outreach
Advanced Cardiac Specialists
Cell Phone: (602) 570-7069 E-mail:
bobbie.boyd@acs-im.com
STUDY LINKS HEART DISEASE WITH
DEPRESSION
Treatment of Heart Failure May
Alleviate the Need for
Anti-depressant Medication
Gilbert,
Arizona (September 8, 2004) - A research study conducted by Advanced Cardiac
Specialists demonstrates that, in the setting of heart failure, significant
impairment of left ventricular systolic function (lower chamber of the heart’s
ability to pump blood) frequently impacts mental health with signs of clinical
depression serious enough to merit medication.
As functional and clinical parameters of heart failure improve, symptoms
of depression appear to improve with nearly 80% of these patients able to come
off anti-depressant medication. This
challenges previous perceptions and indicates that improvement in functional
and clinical parameters of heart failure may be vital to improving
psychological health.
The
research is based on retrospective analysis of Advanced Cardiac Specialists’
heart failure patient registry.
Seventy-seven patients had clinically diagnosed depression requiring
oral anti-depressant therapy, at baseline.
Ninety-seven percent of these patients had some degree of support
network, including spouse, children, other relatives and friends. Sixty-eight percent were married. At twelve-month follow-up patients’ left
ventricular systolic ejection fraction had improved from 29.22% to 36.57%. Use of sleep aids decreased from 33.4% to
12.6%. Patients reporting symptoms of
depression decreased from 100% to 23.8%.
Several
studies have examined the association between disease severity, depression and
quality of life in heart failure. Some
of them have suggested that symptoms of depression have a greater impact on
quality of life than severity of cardiac dysfunction or functional impairment. These studies have failed to demonstrate a
significant relationship between left ventricular (lower chamber of the heart)
ejection fraction (ability of the heart to pump blood) and any quality of life
measures. Few studies have examined the
impact of heart failure and left ventricular systolic function on the
psychosocial health of the patient.
Congestive
heart failure (CHF) may be caused by many factors, with the end result of
damage to the heart muscle. The most
common cause of CHF in the U.S. is from one or repeated heart attacks, where
the heart muscle does not receive adequate oxygen for a period of time. Other causes include long-standing
uncontrolled hypertension; prolonged malfunction of one or more heart valves;
some viral illnesses that release a toxin that attacks heart muscle; and,
excessive alcohol intake. The end
result is the same: the heart muscle is not strong enough to pump adequate
blood to meet the demands of the body.
Swelling of the feet and ankles (edema) and fatigue (from low cardiac
output) are prominent symptoms. The
symptoms vary greatly depending on the severity of heart failure. With worsening CHF, blood and extra fluids
may back up into the lungs, making breathing extremely difficult.
The results of this research study were presented at the Annual Scientific Meetings of the Heart Failure Society in Toronto, Canada September 12 – 15, 2004. Advanced Cardiac Specialists is a statewide Cardiology and Internal Medicine practice based in Phoenix, Arizona with Robert M. Siegel, M.D. as Medical Director.