Project Summary

Bettina Bankier, M.D. (Young Investigator 2005) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, plans to study the relationship between anxiety disorder and coronary heart disease. Recently, studies have shown an association between depression, inflammation and coronary heart disease but the studies did not take into account the impact of anxiety disorders independent of depression. To understand the possible effect of anxiety on coronary heart disease, Dr. Bankier plans to assay markers for inflammation and heart injury in four groups of stable patients with coronary heart disease: those with major depressive disorder and no other psychiatric problem; those with depressive disorder and anxiety; those with anxiety and no depressive disorder; and those with no psychiatric problems. Assessing these different groups could provide biological markers of the different psychiatric aspects of cardiac problems, findings that could impact future multidisciplinary care.

Program Area: MULTIPLE FOCUS AREAS\Anxiety Disorders/Unipolar Depression

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