Abstract

FERRAZ, Inês; NORTON, Andreia  and  SILVEIRA, Celeste. Depression and stroke: Cause or consequence?. Arq Med [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.4, pp.148-153. ISSN 2183-2447.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder associated with it, and post stroke depression (PSD) has an estimated prevalence of 33% and a peak incidence in the first 6 months after the event. PSD is multifactorial. Patient age, personality traits, family and social support, functional deficits and disability, location and extension of the cerebral damage, and other vascular comorbidities are some of the factors associated with the condition. Depression could be an expected reaction to the incapacity produced by stroke or be considered a risk factor for the occurrence of the vascular event. On other hand, the biogenic amines and the cytokines hypothesis, and the vascular depression concept support a bidirectional correlation between vascular events and depression. Depression strongly affects the functional recovery and long term mortality after stroke, and therefore early diagnosis and treatment is essential to improve physical and emotional rehabilitation of these patients.

Keywords : Depression; stroke; poststroke depression; vascular depression; cerebrovascular disease.

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