By David Liu, PHD

MOnday Feb 20, 201 (foodconsumer.org) -- Depression is known to be associated with increased risk of high blood pressure or hypertension.  A new study in Journal of Hypertension suggests that the association can be causal, that is, depression increased risk of hypertension.

Lin Meng and colleagues in China reviewed 75 study reports and based on data from 9 quality studies of 22,367 people who were followed up for 9.6 years, the researchers estimated how depression could affect the risk of hypertension.  

By definition, a person is said to have hypertension when he has systolic blood pressure over 140 mmHg and or diastolic blood pressure over 90 mmHg.

The researchers found that depression increased risk of hypertension incidence by 42 percent.

Depression, also known as major depression, major depressive disorder or unipolar depression, is a state of mind, which gives people bad feelings like sad, blue, unhappy, miserable or down in the dumps.

Risk factors for depression can be physiological or mental.  Alcohol, drug abuse, medications like steroids, medical conditions such as underactive thyroid, cancer or chronic pain can cause depression.  Stress from broken relation, death or illness of someone close to you, divorce, childhood abuse or neglect, job loss, or social isolation among other things.