Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
'House Call'
Aired January 28, 2004 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If high blood pressure runs in your family, you may run a greater risk of depression. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us in the CNN center with details of a new study out today.
Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
You know, this whole link between hypertension and depression, that's been around a little while. Which causes which? That's been a little bit harder to figure out. Which comes first, the hypertension or the depression?
But now a new study, as you mentioned, Soledad, actually looking not only at the relationship between hypertension and depression, but also bringing your family history into the mix as well, specifically looking at whether or not your parents had high blood pressure and how that influences the link between your hypertension and depression.
Take a look -- if neither one of your parents had hypertension, then there is a very weak association between hypertension and depression for you. If one of your parents had a moderate association, both of your parents, then a stronger association.
First study really to show this sort of link between your family history, as well as your own likelihood of developing depression and hypertension together. Important study from a sort of medical standpoint, because for people who have a strong history of hypertension, and they themselves are starting to develop hypertension, it may be important to start looking for any signs of depression as well, so that those can be treated early. That's probably really the take-home message here -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: They're such different diseases. And granted, you're the doctor, not me, but it doesn't necessarily seem intuitive that the two would be linked. What kind of link do we think there actually is?
GUPTA: You know, that is really a really good question. People have actually looked at depression and hypertension for some time. One is typically thought of as a psychological disease, one, more of a biological disease.
But there could be several links. First of all, look at the sort of biological basis of it. If you look at depression, hypertension, people who are depressed, for example, More likely to also be smokers, they're also more likely to become apathetic, possibly not taking their medications as much. That could lead to more problems with hypertension. But for sort of biological basis, they could also be triggering or inhibiting substances that could also harmful to the heart. This is a hot area of research right now. What is it about depression that causes this sort of problem? We do know the outcomes. We do know that people who have depression are more likely to develop hypertension. We also know that if they go on to have a heart attack, they're more likely to die from that heart attack than people who are not depressed ahead of time. So those links are there, exactly -- your question is a good one, because the links are there, but why exactly they're there, is going to be the subject of further research -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 28, 2004 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If high blood pressure runs in your family, you may run a greater risk of depression. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us in the CNN center with details of a new study out today.
Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
You know, this whole link between hypertension and depression, that's been around a little while. Which causes which? That's been a little bit harder to figure out. Which comes first, the hypertension or the depression?
But now a new study, as you mentioned, Soledad, actually looking not only at the relationship between hypertension and depression, but also bringing your family history into the mix as well, specifically looking at whether or not your parents had high blood pressure and how that influences the link between your hypertension and depression.
Take a look -- if neither one of your parents had hypertension, then there is a very weak association between hypertension and depression for you. If one of your parents had a moderate association, both of your parents, then a stronger association.
First study really to show this sort of link between your family history, as well as your own likelihood of developing depression and hypertension together. Important study from a sort of medical standpoint, because for people who have a strong history of hypertension, and they themselves are starting to develop hypertension, it may be important to start looking for any signs of depression as well, so that those can be treated early. That's probably really the take-home message here -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: They're such different diseases. And granted, you're the doctor, not me, but it doesn't necessarily seem intuitive that the two would be linked. What kind of link do we think there actually is?
GUPTA: You know, that is really a really good question. People have actually looked at depression and hypertension for some time. One is typically thought of as a psychological disease, one, more of a biological disease.
But there could be several links. First of all, look at the sort of biological basis of it. If you look at depression, hypertension, people who are depressed, for example, More likely to also be smokers, they're also more likely to become apathetic, possibly not taking their medications as much. That could lead to more problems with hypertension. But for sort of biological basis, they could also be triggering or inhibiting substances that could also harmful to the heart. This is a hot area of research right now. What is it about depression that causes this sort of problem? We do know the outcomes. We do know that people who have depression are more likely to develop hypertension. We also know that if they go on to have a heart attack, they're more likely to die from that heart attack than people who are not depressed ahead of time. So those links are there, exactly -- your question is a good one, because the links are there, but why exactly they're there, is going to be the subject of further research -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
