Exercise and quitting smoking fight post-heart attack depression
People who suffer a heart attack are thrice more likely to be depressed than those who didn’t. Patients who were depressed after a heart attack are then twice as likely to suffer a second attack.
To prevent this vicious cycle, a new study suggests that regular exercise and quitting smoking may fight post-heart attack depression and prevent further complications.
Dr David Nanchen, head of the Prevention Centre, Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, advised heart attack patients to discuss smoking cessation with their doctor and to be physically active. “You should do moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week to be within recommended levels. Make sure you are working hard enough to break out in a sweat,” he said. “This level of physical activity is good for your mental and physical health.”
Dr Nanchen studied 1,164 patients who were part of the Swiss Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) cohort, a large prospective multicentre study of patients with ACS in Switzerland. Patients were enrolled between 2009 and 2013 and followed up for one year. Depression was assessed at enrolment and at one year.
The researchers investigated the impact of a number of factors on improvement of depression after heart attack. These included blood cholesterol management, blood pressure control, smoking cessation for smokers, reduction of alcohol for those consuming more than 14 drinks per week, intensification of physical activity, and guideline recommended medications.
The study found that at one year, 27% of heart attack patients had persistent or new depression and 11% had improved depression. Patients with depression were less frequently married, had more diabetes, and were more frequently smokers than those without depression.
At one year, smoking cessation had the strongest association with improvement of depression with a 2.3 greater chance of improving depression in quitters compared to those who continued smoking. Depressed patients who had higher physical activity at the beginning of the study were also more prone to improve their depression.
“Heart attack patients who smoke and are depressed are much more likely to improve their depression if they kick the habit,” said Dr Nanchen. “While our observational study was unable to find an impact of exercise after heart attack on depressive symptoms, we did show that patients who were already physically active were more able to improve their depression. We believe that the benefits of exercise after heart attack would be shown in a randomised trial, but such a study is difficult to perform for ethical reasons.”
Category: Features, Wellness and Complementary Therapies
