People who suffer from depression are at increased risk for early death, but suicide is not the only threat.
Depression also appears to increase the risk of death by heart disease, according to a report by Dr Lawson R. Wulsin and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard University, writing in the current issue of the journal, Psychosomatic Medicine.
Suicide accounted for 16 per cent to 19 per cent of the samples under study but other factors also influenced the relationship between depression and increased death risk, they write, including chronic physical illness, smoking, alcohol abuse and poor self-care when ill.