EurekAlert -- Patients with heart disease who are subsequently diagnosed with depression are at greater risk for heart failure (HF), a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood throughout the body, according to a new study published in the April 21, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This study—the first to investigate the influence of depression after heart disease on the likelihood of developing HF—also found that taking antidepressant medications to ease depressive symptoms did not appear to mitigate this risk.
