When the researchers checked heart failure rates among the 1,377 people, the incidence of heart failure in that group was double the rate among those who did not have depression. The increased incidence was lower after adjustment for other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, but it was still 50 percent higher.

Medication records were available for 7,719 people in the study, and those records showed no difference in the incidence of heart failure between people prescribed antidepressants and those not prescribed the drugs.

The lesson for physicians, May said, is that there is increased danger for people with heart disease and depression, even if they take medicine that reduces the symptoms of depression.

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Editor:Yang Jie