Depression Modulates Autonomic Cardiac Control: A Physiopsychological Pathway Linking Depression and Mortality?

It is postulated that depressed patients have an increased risk of death due to cardiovascular disorders. Against this background, we investigated the heart rate variability (HRV) of untreated ambulatory patients complain-ing of depressive symptoms during their first visit to our department. Within this population, we can even demonstrate a reduced HRV in patients with a low level of depressive symptoms. These results lead us to speculate that altered autonomic cardiac control is a psychophysiological link between depressed mood and in-creased mortality (German J Psychiatry 2002;5:67-69