When you think of heart attacks, you might assume the most common causes are smoking, high cholesterol, or obesity. But a new study suggests that depression poses just as great a risk to your heart health as those more familiar heart disease contributors. And it turned out, dying from cardiovascular disease during the study period was as strongly associated with depression as it was with several of the classic “big five” heart disease risk factors: obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, and smoking. Plus, they add, treating depression is likely to have noticeable, tangible benefits to patients—something that can’t be said for factors like high blood pressure or cholesterol. Previous research has also shown that this association is likely a two-way street: Just as depression can contribute to heart disease, suffering from a serious heart condition can also lead to depression.

Source: Fox News January 28, 2017 12:00 UTC