DALLAS, Oct. 4 It may be best to look on the bright side at least when recovering from a stroke. Stroke survivors with a high degree of pessimism are nearly five times more likely to develop post-stroke depression, according to a Dutch study reported in the October issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Depression is common among stroke survivors and can interfere with recovery. "Our study found that post-stroke depression is not only caused by damage to the brain tissue but also depends on one's general tendency to react to distressing life events by experiencing emotions such as anger, anxiety and sadness," says lead author Ivo Aben, M.D.

Aben was a Ph.D. student while conducting his research for this study at the Institute of Brain and Behavior at Maastricht University, in the Netherlands.

Researchers assessed 190 people recovering from a first stroke for depressive symptoms at one, three, six, nine and 12 months after the stroke. Survivors also completed questionnaires covering the five main personality traits: the tendency to experience negative mood states called neuroticism, extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness. They responded to statements such as "I seldom feel lonely or sad," "I smile easily," and "I really like talking to people" on a five-point scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."

At one-year after stroke, researchers found that 38.7 percent of the survivors were depressed. Those with the high neuroticism scores had a 4.6 times higher risk of developing post-stroke depression than those with the low scores. This effect was stronger in men than in women.

Neuroticism was the only personality trait that increased the risk of post-stroke depression. The survivor's level of disability was the only other factor that also had an independent risk of increasing post-stroke depression.

The effect of negative emotions was independ
'"/>

Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
3-Oct-2002

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Young people prone to type 2 diabetes exhibit alterations in mitochondrial activity
2. Distress-prone people more likely to develop Alzheimers disease
3. North American mammographers prone to more false positives, study finds
4. Seizure prone? Tell your dentist
5. Children with bowel disease prone to emotional problems
6. Young blacks, Hispanics more prone to stroke than young whites
7. NEMO submerged in virus-prone boys
8. Alcoholics may be more injury prone than illicit drug users
9. Anger-prone people are more likely to have heart attacks
10. Single mothers at higher risk for depression
11. Treating depression helps slow physical decline in older adults, study shows