In the United States alone, 15 million people suffer from some form of depression every year according to the National Institute for Mental Health. Most of this patients are treated with drugs rather than being guided through talk therapies. About 50% of this population does not improve even with regular intake of anti-depressants.

Instead of the usual approach of switching to other anti-depressants if the first attempt does not work, the proponents of the study evaluated the effects of talk therapy to these people suffering from major depression.

A randomized trial was done with subjects randomly chosen to receive only anti-depressants and another group taking medicine in combination with talk therapy. The results reveal that talk therapy patients improved significantly compared to those who were only taking medicines.

The study also pointed out that not all people can get access to talk therapy because  of the price. Taking prescribed anti-depressants is a lot cheaper compared to receiving talk therapy. Monthly averages for fluoxetine only cost $19, sertraline goes for $26, while citalopram costs $35. In the short term, talk therapy would cost more. Another issue will be the lack of insurance coverage that does not have a tight belt on receiving sufficient help for a better mental health.

In the long-term, talk therapy is really worth the dollars. Talk therapies may only last for several months while those who benefit from anti-depressant drugs may need to take them for a life time.

There are a lot of clinical evidences that points out that depression makes a person more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases. Although there are studies that arrived with some facts that genes play a major role in making a person at risk for developing heart diseases.

The twins study had covered an approximately, or more than 1,200 middle-aged men, makes out a little conclusion of how genetic make-up can bring cardiovascular diseases, and this study also arrived to the fact that depression takes a major part in the pathophysiology of the disease.

Jeffrey Scherrer of Washington University and of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Louis is the head of the study. He stated that heart diseases are not only brought by depression, but also by diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.

The twins in the study gave way to unique methods of knowing how genetic make-up can influence one’s health. Identical twins are known to share 100% of their genes, while fraternal twins have 50% of shared genes. The study of Scherrer involved identical and fraternal twins.

But according to Francois Lesperance, a psychiatrist at the University of Montreal, there is no exact evidence that will point out that treating depression would make a person have fewer chances of heart attacks. Lesperance pioneered researches that link depression to cardiovascular problems.