Author: Independent

Depression Doubles the Risk of Death From Coronary Artery Disease, Finds Research

(Independent) Depression appears to double the chance of dying in any given year for patients with coronary artery disease, according to a new study.

 The researchers said such mental distress was a “stronger risk factor” than age, having had a heart attack, or diabetes.
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The effect was seen if the person was depressed before or after diagnosis of the disease.
 Nearly 25,000 people with coronary artery disease were tracked over an average of 10 years and about 15 per cent of them ended up being diagnosed with depression, according to a paper published in the European Heart Journal.

Dr. Heidi May, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at Intermountain Medical Centre Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, said: No matter how long or how short it was, patients were found to have twice the risk of dying compared to those who didn’t have a follow-up diagnosis of depression.

Depression was the strongest risk factor for dying, compared to any other risk factors we evaluated. That included age, heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure, or having a heart attack or stroke.

We’ve completed several depression-related studies and been looking at this connection for many years.

The data just keeps building on itself, showing that if you have heart disease and depression and it’s not appropriately treated in a timely fashion, it’s not a good thing for your long-term wellbeing.”

Of more than 2,600 patients who became clinically depressed about 27 per cent did so within a year of being diagnosed with the disease. The figure was 37 per cent after five years.

And while depression seems to make the condition worse, being diagnosed is also a reason why some patients become depressed.

The reason why the chance of dying increased was not revealed by the study, but Dr. May said it was possible patients were not following their treatment plans as closely as people in good mental health. She said,

We know people with depression tend to be less compliant with medication on average and probably in general aren’t following healthier diets or exercise regimens.

They tend to do a poorer job of doing things that are prescribed than people without depression. That certainly doesn’t mean you’re depressed so you’re going to be less compliant, but in general, they tend to follow those behaviours.”

 She added that depression can also cause physiological changes to the body, which could also be a factor.
Related: Natural Approaches to Combat Depression

Dr. May urged the medical community to take depression seriously when treating coronary artery disease.

Patients who have depression need to be treated to improve not only their long-term risks but their quality of life.”

Elon Musk is ‘given approval’ to build 760mph Hyperloop between New York and DC

Mr Musk refused to say who had given him permission.

(Independent) Elon Musk has said he has received permission to build an underground east coast  “hyperloop” that will connect New York and Washington DC in just 29 minutes.

Mr Musk, best known for his electric car company and for his space venture Space X, said he had received verbal permission for his infrastructure and tunnelling firm, the Boring Company, to build a subterranean transportation system.

Mr Musk, who has previously made claims that many have considered wild, did not say who he had received permission from, or the nature of the “verbal agreement”.

“Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins,” he said on Twitter.

“City centre to city centre in each case, with up to a dozen or more entry/exit elevators in each city.”

Earlier this month Mr Musk announced the Boring Company’s Godot machine has begun its digging operation in the car park of the SpaceX building in LA.

Mr Musk first proposed the electromagnetic tube system in 2013. Earlier this year the California tech company Hyperloop One unveiled a plan for a NY-to-DC system.

Many people on social media asked Mr Musk who had given him permission for the project but he refused to answer.