The latest study from the US brings worrying news: young women who struggle with depression and anxiety are twice as likely to develop serious cardiovascular diseases, despite being generally less susceptible to these diseases. This discovery sheds new light on the importance of mental health and its impact on physical condition.
Analyzes by the Folkehelseinstituttet (FHI) indicate an increase in mental health problems among women, especially in the 20-39 age group, with an alarming 40 percent of students reporting mental health problems.
Presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), this study highlights the need for early detection of heart disease risk in younger women experiencing anxiety and depression, with the goal of reducing the prevalence of these potentially fatal conditions.
Dr. Giovanni Civieri, lead author of the study and a researcher at Harvard Medical School, points out: "We thought that young women were relatively protected from heart disease, but our research shows that psychological problems can significantly threaten the condition." This encourages us to rethink how we approach mental health and its impact on the physical."
The results of the study show that women under the age of 50 with a history of anxiety or depression are almost 55 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes compared to their peers without psychological challenges. These findings are particularly pronounced in women who were previously considered a 'safe group'.
In addition, the research included studying the metabolic activity of brain regions associated with stress in order to better understand how mental state affects heart health. "Stress can affect the heart in many ways, and our study specifically focuses on the links between neural activity and cardiovascular problems," adds Dr. Civieri.
Although anxiety and depression have different manifestations, their grouping in this study highlights their joint effect on increasing the risk of heart disease. This paper is a call to rethink how mental health is treated in the context of general health, and emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and a proactive approach to treatment.
Dr Civieri concludes: “Young women should not panic about these results, but it is clear that mental health plays a key role in preventing heart disease. This is an important discovery that requires further attention and possible changes in the healthcare system to save lives."
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