Abstract The
prevalence of
depression varies from 1 to 17% in different geographic regions, and its
incidence is 70% higher in
women than
men. Today,
depression affects more than 300 million people worldwide, affecting twice as many
women from
adolescence to adulthood. In addition to this earlier onset,
depression in
women tends to be more severe.
Cardiovascular disease and
depression are
chronic diseases that have a major impact on cardiovascular and all-cause
morbidity and
mortality, with evidence of a two-way relationship between them, in which
depression is a predictor of
cardiovascular disease and vice versa. In
females, the degree of illness and
prognosis are more severe when both
diseases are present, than when diagnosed alone. In
patients with acute or chronic
cardiovascular disease, especially
women, a systematic
screening for
depression should be considered as a preventive strategy of cardiovascular events, aiming to reduce the
risk of
future events. There are still no clinical studies designed to assess the impact of
antidepressant treatment on cardiovascular outcomes in
women.