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TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
The more symptoms of depression<\/a> people have, the higher their risk of stroke<\/a>, researchers say.<\/p>\n “There are a number of well-known risk factors for stroke<\/a>, such as high blood pressure<\/a>, diabetes<\/a> and heart disease<\/a>; but we are beginning to understand that there are nontraditional risk factors as well, and having depressive symptoms looms high on that list,” said study co-author Virginia Howard. She’s a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama (UA) at Birmingham.<\/p>\n “These nontraditional risk factors need to be in the conversation about stroke prevention<\/a>,” Howard said in a university news release.<\/p>\n The study included more than 9,500 Black people and more than 14,500 white people across the United States who were 45 and older and had no history of stroke<\/a>.<\/p>\n A four-item depression<\/a> scale was used to determine how often the participants felt depressed<\/a>, sad or lonely or had crying spells.<\/p>\n During an average follow-up of nine years, there were more than 1,260 strokes<\/a> among the participants.<\/p>\n Compared to participants with no depressive symptoms, those with scores of one to three had a 39% increased stroke<\/a> risk. Those with scores of more than four had a 54% higher risk, after the researchers accounted for demographic factors.<\/p>\n Race didn’t affect stroke<\/a> risk, according to the study recently published in the journal Neurology: Clinical Practice<\/em>.<\/p>\n One of the study’s objectives was to determine whether depressive symptoms might help explain the increased risk that Black Americans have for stroke<\/a>, especially in the South.<\/p>\n “The traditional risk factors don’t explain all the difference in stroke<\/a> risk between races,” said study co-author Cassandra Ford, of the UA College of Nursing<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The results have been mixed among the few studies that enrolled Black participants and examined race and depressive symptoms in relation to stroke<\/a>. Depression<\/a> often goes undetected and undiagnosed in Black patients, who are frequently less likely to receive effective care and management,” Ford explained.<\/p>\n “These findings suggest that further research needs to be conducted to explore nontraditional risk factors for stroke,” she concluded.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health<\/a> has more on depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCE: University of Alabama at Birmingham, news release, Oct. 29, 2020<\/p>\n Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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