Depression and heart disease: What do we know, and where are we headed?

Depression and heart disease have an intricate association and perhaps a causal relationship. We review the current status of depression and heart disease and provide an algorithm for diagnosing and treating depression in cardiac patients that internists and cardiologists can use in their daily patient encounters. Depression is a risk factor for new cardiac disease and has a detrimental effect in established cardiac disease. Clinicians should routinely screen for it in cardiac patients and should not hesitate to treat it.

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