By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Anxiety and depression coupled with heart disease triples the risk of death compared to cardiac trouble alone, researchers have found.
Among heart patients, anxiety can double the risk of dying from any cause, the study authors noted, and depression further raises those odds.
"Patients with heart disease who experience high anxiety during the stressors of everyday life may benefit from treatments designed to reduce anxiety, such as medications targeting anxiety or stress management," said lead researcher Lana Watkins, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.