Women with a genetic risk of depression are more likely to develop heart disease, study finds

As if they needed more to worry about

As if women didn't already have enough health issues to worry about, new research from the University of Queensland links one type of depression in women to an increased risk of heart disease.

Women already face a heavy health burden. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that more women suffer from issues like dementia and chronic illness than men, and according to new research, they now have to worry more about their heart health too.

A team from The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience analysed the genetic and health data from over 300,000 people to find that ‘women who had a high genetic risk of developing depression also had a high risk of developing heart disease’.

Worse still, these women’s risk of heart issues was the same regardless of whether they actually had diagnosed depression or not.

Dr Sonia Shah worked on the study, she said “In our study, the link between the genetic risk of depression and developing a cardiovascular disease was seen even among women who had never been diagnosed with depression or taken any psychiatric medications.”

The same link wasn’t found in men

Shah noted that “an overall greater proportion of men [develop] heart disease”, with 40 per cent more men admitted to hospital for cardiovascular disease than women each year, as per Heart Foundation. 

Despite this, she said the same link between genetic depression risk and cardiovascular health “was not observed in men”. 

“The variation between men and women could also not be explained by differences in traditional risk factors such as BMI, smoking, high blood pressure or high cholesterol”, she added.

Women’s heart issues are commonly misdiagnosed

These findings are concerning as more and more research suggests many women’s heart issues are being misdiagnosed as anxiety, stress or simply being overemotional. 

One study published in the Journal of Women’s Health found that women with symptoms of heart disease were twice as likely to be told their symptoms were due to mental illness, compared to men who had the same symptoms.

And a 2022 research article from Journal of the American Heart Association found that women in the US had to wait 29 per cent longer than men to be evaluated for potential heart attacks when presenting to emergency departments with chest pain. 

Dr Clara Jiang worked on the Institute for Molecular Bioscience’s study, and said there is a “Bias towards men in our knowledge and approach to cardiovascular health” due to an underrepresentation of women in past cardiovascular research and trials. 

As a result, she said “women are going under-diagnosed and under-treated”, despite heart disease being the leading cause of death in women around the world. 

Need for more heart and health checks

It is important to note that not all cases of depression are genetic, and that simply having the mental illness doesn’t automatically mean you’re likely to develop heart disease. 

But staying on top of your health is important, with Shah emphasising “Frequent heart health checks are especially important for women who have a history of depression.”

If you have concerns about your heart or mental health, talk to your GP or a mental health professional. 

Originally published as Women with a genetic risk of depression are more likely to develop heart disease, study finds