The study, conducted by researchers at the Duke University Medical Center, found that heart patients with both type 2 diabetes and symptoms of depression were more likely to die than were other heart patients.
The researchers revealed that among type 2 diabetes patients, having high depression scores increased the risk of dying by 20 to 30 percent compared to patients with similar depression scores but no type 2 diabetes.
"We found a trend showing that the probability of death increases as the level of depression increases in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease," said a researcher linked with the study.
