Depression doesn’t just hurt — it kills

You won’t hear me say this often. But there’s one thing Big Pharma and I do agree on: Depression really does hurt. And a whole lot worse than most sufferers realize.

Yes, it can destroy your quality of life on multiple fronts. But new research serves as a stark reminder that depression’s lesser known symptoms extend well beyond chronic pain…

If you’ve been diagnosed with heart disease, it could also contribute to an early death.

A new study from Salt Lake City’s Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute paints a grim picture. Their research followed nearly 25,000 patients newly diagnosed with coronary artery disease. It also evaluated for subsequent depression — with patients separated into different categories based on how long after their heart disease diagnosis depression symptoms appeared.

This is one of very few studies that have ever examined the link between heart disease and depression diagnoses over an extended period of time — ten years, to be exact.

In the study, roughly 15 percent of the patients received a depression diagnosis.

Let me point out that this is not the first study to link depression with an increased risk of death in heart disease patients. But its findings are nevertheless shocking.

Patients who suffered depression after a heart disease diagnosis faced double the risk of death from any cause, regardless of when their depression developed. It could be weeks, months, or even years later.

In fact, a post-heart disease depression diagnosis was the single biggest predictor of death in this study. Even after factors like age, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney or heart failure, and heart attack or stroke were accounted for.

This lethal connection could not be any clearer. Which means that depression doesn’t just hurt—it kills.

It doesn’t mean, however, that risky drugs should serve as your first line of defense. Because they shouldn’t. Not when there are a number of safe, natural, research-supported strategies that can and do make a difference.

I’ve covered a wide range of these solutions both here and in my monthly newsletter Logical Health Alternatives. So if you or someone you know is battling depression, please think twice before jumping on the pharmaceutical bandwagon — visit my archives first (all you have to do is login with your username and password).

If you’re a subscriber, you’ll have full access to anything I’ve ever written on the topic. And if you’re not, well, I can’t think of a better reason to sign up today.