Studies show connection between depression and heartburn – NRK Viten – News in science and research

In most people, an extension of the main pulmonary artery in the stomach is discovered by coincidence. For the disease it does not give symptoms or ailments. Most people live unknowingly with that life.

Problems arise if it breaks. When that happens, only half arrive at the hospital on time. Up to 80 percent die.

But scientists are not sure why some people get this disease.

NTNU researchers have now found a clear link between symptoms of depression and the risk of developing the illness.

– If you are depressed, you have a 30% higher risk of developing a vein in the main pulse, says researcher Linn Åldstedt Nyrønning.

She is the first author in the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The newborn has recently completed a doctorate in clinical medicine for this disease.

Higher risk

For more than ten years, researchers have followed nearly 60,000 Norwegian women and men, ages 50 to 106. They have used data from the large health survey at Nord-Trøndelag, HUNT.

It has been known for a long time that smoking, obesity, age, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems are risk factors for an enlarged main pulmonary artery. The disease affects one to three percent of the population, according to international studies. Men are affected more frequently than women.

In the study, they were adjusted for these risk factors. However, researchers find an additional risk of the disease among those with symptoms of depression.

– This is the first time that a study has shown such a clear connection between depression and exposure, says Jarlis Wesche.

She is a consultant in vascular surgery at Akershus University Hospital and an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo.

– I am surprised that even those with mild symptoms of depression have a higher risk of contracting this illness.

Body and mind

– Our study is perhaps a sign that the connection between physical and mental illness is stronger than one thinks, says Nyrønning.

This is not the first time that one finds evidence that the body and the mind are closely related. Several studies have shown that heart disease and stomach ulcers can be related to mental health.

– Getting an enlarged vein from the main pulse is very physical and has something to do with the soul: it’s special, says Erney Mattsson. He is professor of vascular surgery at NTNU and study supervisor.

He believes that we have organized society and the health system on the basis that body and mind are two different things. It may be time to change these dividing lines.

– When we see a clearer connection between body and soul, it challenges the way we think, he says.

Researchers don’t know exactly why depression can trigger exposure.

– But we believe it may be related to inflammatory changes that occur in the body during depression, says Mattsson.

Not just a male disease

In Sweden, Denmark and England, only men over 65 receive a survey to find out if they are exposed.

But the new NTNU study shows that if you are female, depressed, and smoke, you have the same risk of developing the disease as men in general.

– We have discovered a subgroup that is very vulnerable, says Erney Mattsson.

Jarlis Wesche believes that doctors should join this study.

– It is important not only to focus on depression itself in vulnerable men and women. They should also undergo ultrasound to verify if they have a bag.

International attention

The results have attracted international interest and have been presented in two international vascular surgeries, in Valencia and London.

– This is good research and the quality is enhanced by a large population that is followed over a long period of time. The fact that the findings are so clear surprises me, says Jarlis Wesche.