TO AITION project uncovers links between cardiovascular disease and mental health

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The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

ESC is committed to raising awareness of the multidirectional relationship between mental health and cardiovascular disease. The first ever ESC Clinical Consensus Statement on the topic was published at ESC Congress 2025.

References and notes:

[1] For more statistics on CVD from the ESC Atlas of Cardiology, click here .

[2] Sources of depression / CVD statistics (provided by Dr Thanopoulou)

2021 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) [online database]. Seattle: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation; 2024 (https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/, accessed 13 August 2025).

Vaccarino V, Badimon L, Bremner JD, Cenko E, Cubedo J, Dorobantu M, Duncker DJ, Koller A, Manfrini O, Milicic D, Padro T, Pries AR, Quyyumi AA, Tousoulis D, Trifunovic D, Vasiljevic Z, de Wit C, Bugiardini R; ESC Scientific Document Group Reviewers. Depression and coronary heart disease: 2018 position paper of the ESC working group on coronary pathophysiology and microcirculation. Eur Heart J. 2020 May 1;41(17):1687-1696. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy913. Erratum in: Eur Heart J. 2020 May 1;41(17):1696. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz811. PMID: 30698764; PMCID: PMC10941327.

Pelletier R, Bacon SL, Arsenault A, et al. Relative associations between depression and anxiety on adverse cardiovascular events: does a history of coronary artery disease matter? A prospective observational study BMJ Open 2015;5:e006582. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006582

A. Nicholson, H. Kuper, and H. Hemingway, "Depression as an aetiologic and prognostic factor in coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of 6362 events among 146 538 participants in 54 observational studies," Eur. Heart J., vol. 27, no. 23, pp. 2763-2774, Dec. 2006, doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehl338.

B. Ruo, J. S. Rumsfeld, M. A. Hlatky, H. Liu, W. S. Browner, and M. A. Whooley, "Depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life: the Heart and Soul Study," JAMA, vol. 290, no. 2, pp. 215-221, Jul. 2003, doi: 10.1001/jama.290.2.215.

T. Rutledge et al., "Depression and cardiovascular health care costs among women with suspected myocardial ischemia: prospective results from the WISE (Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation) Study," J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 176-183, Jan. 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.09.032.

[3] A cloud risk stratification platform for cardiovascular disease and depression. Presentation at ESC Congress: https://esc365.escardio.org/session/51056