Study finds genetic basis for link between depression, heart disease

A group of genes could be common to both depression and heart disease, a finding that researchers said could explain why having one of them increases risk of developing the other. The "puzzling" link between the diseases has been known to exist since the 1990s, they said. Studies have found that people with depression run a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, with early and effective treatment of the mental illness lowering the risk of developing heart-related conditions.