Why is it so important to treat depression ? Because it’s more than a mental health issue. For instance, a study in archives of general psychiatry found that older adults with depression were more likely to accrue visceral fat (abdominal fat surrounding internal organs), which has been linked to increased risk of CVD and heart attack. Other studies suggest that depressed patients have low heart rate variability (“hardening” of the arteries), as well as greater levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which may increase the risk of diabetes.
