Depression and atherosclerosis.

The aim of this paper was to examine the interaction between depression and atherosclerosis through a systematic review. A Medline search was performed from 1966 through 2009 using relevant terms such as depression, epidemiology and atherosclerosis. This was supplemented by a thorough manual search using bibliographies of reviews and full articles. The papers were divided and analyzed separately for each vascular bed. Depression is diagnosed usually before atherosclerosis becomes obvious. The contribution of depression in the development of atherosclerosis emerges from various mechanisms, including lack of physical activity, that exist in this illness. Controversies about the etiology and pathogenesis exist. These interactions of all elements and the importance of each one have not been investigated adequately. Repeated objective measurements for atherosclerosis are lacking. There is an association between depression and atherosclerosis, but the strength of this relationship has to be determined. Prospective studies are needed to determine the early and long term effects of their interaction.