Heart patients with depression have a higher risk for recurring cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke and heart failure, but the reason behind this link is not clear yet. Now U.S researchers find that behavior changes in these patients are a basic factor in recurring cardiovascular events.

To know about the symptoms of depression in heart disease patients, researchers, from the VA Medical Center in San Francisco, used a questionnaire and then they utilized different models to assess the link between depression and following cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke and heart failure.

The researchers found that there was a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular events in the patients who had depression. After adjusting cardiac disease severity and other existing conditions, the researchers found a 31% higher risk for cardiovascular events in the patients with depression.

Then, the researchers adjusted some other health behaviors like physical inactivity in these patients and they noticed that there wasn’t a considerable link between cardiovascular events and depression. The researchers accounted physical inactivity for a 44% higher risk of cardiovascular events.

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A new study suggests that the high cost of angioplasty doesn’t seem to justify the marginal benefit.

Reporting at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions in New Orleans, the researchers told that adding angioplasty to optimal medical therapy could improve angina-related symptoms in some patients, but at a very high cost.

Dr Sidney Smith, chairman of the AHA says: “It’s an important trial, but the cost is important too and we find that the use of stents and additional angina related to that was expensive.”

However, it doesn’t mean that the procedure shouldn’t be performed.

“Cost must not be a barricade, but to do things in a better way, it should be an incentive by targeting the population or by making it a less expensive procedure. Definitely we need to find a way to fix the cost.” Smith added.

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MONDAY, Oct. 13– A new study says that higher alcohol intake can hurt or shrink your brain.

Rajesh Miranda, who is an associate professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, says: “Though we known about that, it’s huge study which quantifies that.”

Miranda added, “It is not surprising that higher alcohol intake lead to the brain shrinkage, as such sort of things have also been observed in many other smaller studies and animal models. However, the astonishing thing is that the current study shows that even lower levels of alcohol intake are not protective.”

Their findings will be published in the Archives of Neurology in the October issue. …Click here to read more