[Diagnosis and therapy of depression in the heart disease patient]

Laederach-Hofmann, K; Fisch, HU (2003). [Diagnosis and therapy of depression in the heart disease patient]. Therapeutische Umschau, 60(11), pp. 703-7. Bern: Huber 10.1024/0040-5930.60.11.703

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Even though depressions and depressive symptoms are frequently observed in patients with medical diseases, their psychological problems are often neither diagnosed nor treated. Diagnosis of mood state might be easy in isolated cases yet it often is not since the precise nature of normal mood cannot be expressed in quantitative terms. Furthermore, depression can only be diagnosed based on the doctor's clinical appraisal and the patient's own description of his/her complaints. There is no gold standard on which depressive symptoms can be based on--and further on, depression is not a diagnosis. Instead, it is a syndrome that calls for differential diagnoses before treatment can be offered. Diagnosing depressive comorbidity in patients with medical complaints is even more difficult because of the overlap between symptoms of depression and accompanying symptoms of the somatic illness e.g. lack of energy. Although depressive states have been known to be a risk factor for the prognosis of patients with coronary heart disease for a long time, there is a paucity of research about the therapy these patients undergo due to the fact that tricyclic anti-depressants can have cardiotoxic effects on patients with heart disease. The treatment of depression in these patients has become a much lower risk since the introduction of serotonin reuptake inhibitors. There is widespread evidence that depressive comorbidity has a negative impact on the prognosis of medical disorders. Despite the complex nature of diagnosing depression, proper diagnosis and treatment is increasingly important in internal medicine and especially cardiology.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Further Contribution)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition
UniBE Contributor:	Laederach, Kurt
ISSN:	0040-5930
ISBN:	14669709
Publisher:	Huber
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 15:01
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:19
Publisher DOI:	10.1024/0040-5930.60.11.703
PubMed ID:	14669709
Web of Science ID:	000186808600006
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/26700 (FactScience: 86966)