Untreated depression may be major risk factor in patients with coronary stents

Patients who have received coronary artery stents and are experiencing depressive symptoms may benefit from talking to their doctor about a prescription to buy Paxil. A new study indicates that these patients who have untreated depression are significantly more likely to die from cardiovascular complications.

A team of researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands tracked the health of 1,234 individuals who received coronary stents over a seven-year period. The results showed that those who were diagnosed with depression were 1.5 times more likely to die during the study period than those without a mood disorder.

The researchers said the findings should alert doctors to the risks associated with depression in individuals being treated with coronary stents. Taking this factor into consideration could lead to improved treatment outcomes.

"Doctors and nurses have traditionally focused on medical factors like diabetes or family history of cardiovascular disease when assessing [coronary stent] patients' risk of death, but that's not the whole picture," said Nikki Damen, who led the study. "Psychological factors do matter as well, in combination with the medical factors."