根據一項最新研究顯示，五分之一的心臟病發作住院患者會出現嚴重的心情沮喪。

這些心情沮喪患者與其他心臟病發作患者相比，在1年之內由于心臟問題而需要住院治療的可能性要高50%，在將來死于心衰或者其他心臟相關性疾病的可能性要高3倍。

Johns Hopkins大學醫學院和心臟研究所副教授、心臟病專家、該項研究的共同作者David Bush醫生指出：“盡管在醫院內沒有時間對心臟病發作患者進行全面的心理狀態評估，但是對心情沮喪狀況進行評估十分重要，因為這將會影響患者生活質量和將來的治療。”

為普通患者在72小時之后逐漸康復并準備出院，而且心情沮喪癥狀出現的較晚，因此很難區分出那些最可能出現這些癥狀的患者。根據該項研究的共同作者、Johns Hopkins的心臟科醫生Roy Ziegelstein的說法，心臟病發作之后出現心情沮喪癥狀是神經激素、生理變化和感覺知覺之間極其復雜的相互作用引起的，是醫學研究的對象。

Ziegelstein醫生解釋說：“這種癥狀遠不是一種短期的單純的悲傷或憂郁。我們所談論的是一種嚴重的疾病。”
 
Depression Often Follows Heart Attack
 
One in five patients hospitalized for a heart attack experiences a major depression, according to a new study.

These depressed patients are 50% more likely than other heart attack patients to need hospital care for a heart problem within a year and are three times more likely to die from a future heart attack or other heart-related condition.

“Although there is not much time to do a full psychiatric assessment of heart attack patients in the hospital, it is important to evaluate for depression because of the impact on the patient’s quality of life and future medical health,” noted study co-lead author and cardiologist, David Bush, M.D., associate professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute (Baltimore, MD, USA).

Since the average patient is recuperating and ready to leave the hospital after 72 hours and depression symptoms develop much later, it is difficult to distinguish those patients who are most likely to become depressed. According to co-lead study author Roy Ziegelstein, M.D., a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, depression after heart attack is a complex interaction of neural hormones, biologic changes, and sensory perceptions that medicine has only begun to study.

“It is far more complex an issue that just being sad or feeling blue for a short period. What we’re talking about here is a serious illness,” explained Dr. Ziegelstein.