Volunteers Required: Depression and Heart Disease Study

It is popularly believed that people die of a "broken heart." The mechanism as to why people with depression suffer more heart disease is unknown.

The Baker Heart Research Institute is conducting research into the effects of depression on the heart. The study will involve taking antidepressant medication. If you are aged between 18 and 65 years, suffer from depression, and have no heart disease, diabetes or hypertension currently treated with medication you may be eligible.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that patients with major depression are at an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. This elevated risk is independent of conventional risk factors such as smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension.

The Baker Heart Research Institute is conducting a study to determine the effects of major depression on sympathetic nervous system activity, immune function and platelet reactivity. The aim is to explore how the body chemistry is altered in people with depression. This may lead to a greater understanding of why there is the association.

The study seeks volunteers who are aged between 18 and 65 years, suffering from a current episode of depression with no history of heart disease, diabetes or hypertension treated with medication. Patients with psychotic disorders, anorexia nervosa or infectious diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis B and C are not eligible to participate. Similarly, patients who have significant alcohol or drug dependence cannot be included in the study.

Assessment and care will be provided by a psychiatrist. There will be investigations of cardiac and nervous system function undertaken, which will be conducted at the Baker Heart Research Institute, which is located at the Alfred Hospital.

Following the initial investigations, participants will be commenced on a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. Between four and ten weeks later the cardiac investigations will be repeated, providing researchers with important information about the causes and consequences of depression and antidepressant treatment on the heart.

Interested participants should contact (03) 9342 8946 or email: psychresearch@mh.org.au

The information you provide will remain confidential. No results will ever be published so that a particular volunteer might be identified.
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