Kettlebell Comorbidities by Gender: Aging, Heart Disease and Depression

comorbidities

Mar 11

We know aging, and cardiovascular disease, are comorbidities in deadly combination — but what about depression? Is depression also considered a comorbidity? Well, the answer has been clear for quite some time that depression is, indeed, a comorbidity for people with other health risks, and now there’s a fascinating new heart study published in the last week — Gender-based depression trajectories following heart disease onset: significant predictors and health outcomes — that deserves your attention, and rapt concentration, because that study directly affects the vitality of our longevity, and health, when those triplets of despair repair to work against us: Depression, Aging, and Heart Disease; and if you’re male, your chances for recovery are even more dire if you get stuck in a hole from which your body, and mind, will not allow you to escape.

ADL (Activities of Daily Living) were paramount to the study, and five were used to discover the rate of decline in physical ability to care for oneself, and the pressing depression into the body. Younger women reported depressive states earlier than men of any age — and over a longer period of time — while older men, with comorbidities, tended to quickly decline, depressively, as their heart disease worsened, thus resulting in a more severe, if not more frequent, ADL loss. From the report:

women with lower household income and more ADL limitations were more likely to develop moderate depression trajectory. Younger age, more ADL limitations, and chronic conditions at baseline were associated with higher risk of chronic depression trajectory. For men, compared to the minimal depression trajectory, those with lower education had a higher risk of having moderate trajectory. Younger men and more ADL limitations were associated with higher risk of emerging depression trajectory.

As we age into our hearts, and ultimately leaving them — again, gender plays an important role in both the creeping of depression, and any possible subsequent recovery:

Gender differences were evident in depression trajectories following heart disease onset. Specifically, although men and women shared two similar trajectories post-heart disease onset, namely minimal and moderate depression, gender differences emerged in the third trajectory. While approximately 10% of women experienced elevated depression, 13% of men showed an emerging/increasing trajectory. The consistently high depression among the subgroup of cardiac women is consonant with existing literature documenting women being more vulnerable to depression than men after experiencing chronic illness.

Once the comorbidity decline begins, it is difficult to make a strong take back of your health:

older cardiac patients may be less likely to improve their health conditions due to the high prevalence of multimorbidity and frailty related to heart disease compared to general older adults

However!

There is a graceful, and important, advantage to being older, and depressive, with cardiac issues:

It is possible that younger geriatric cardiac patients may be less likely to develop positive coping strategies than their older peers. This finding is also congruent with the evidence that older adults are generally more resilient than younger adults, when facing significant stressors, probably due to accumulated life experiences associated with older age

Women tend to recover better than men with triggered depressive events brought on by matters of the heart:

It is also possible that older men with incident depression after heart disease are particularly at increased risk for worse prognosis and adverse clinical outcomes than those with no depression or chronic/recurrent depression, and thereby at higher risk for death. This finding underscores the need for targeted screening and intervention among older men with increasing depression over time. However, it remains unclear why chronic depression trajectory among older women identified in this study was not associated with mortality.

What does this latest study mean for us — those who use Kettlebells to regain our strength, and increase our stamina? Well, the study confirms that what we are doing is right. I argue it is nigh impossible to be depressed and Swing a Kettlebell 100 times a day; sure, I’m certain some are able to accommodate their depression to get up, and put their body in motion, but the mere act of moving with determination, and motivation, helps mitigate the depressive effects of the mind against the body.

As well, Kettlebell workouts — performed with skill, and on a regular schedule — can help make your heart stronger. You can lower blood pressure with Kettlebells. Kettlebells can help you work to avoid comorbidities that, once they are set against you, are difficult to remove and cure. The best bet for us all is to proactively churn against the inevitable with every tool and weapon available to us, for you know as well as I that one day, we will be in for the fight of our lives!