Depression risk detected by measuring changes in heart rate

For the first time, doctors have shown that measuring changes in heart rate over a 24-hour period can reliably indicate whether someone is depressed. In practice, this is a faster and more responsive treatment because it can objectively “early warn” the clinician of the possibility of depression while at the same time quickly indicating whether the treatment is working. The road to is opened. Presenting the results of this pilot study at the ECNP Virtual Congress, Principal Investigator Dr. Carmen Schubec (Frankfurt, Goethe University) said, “Simply speaking, just measuring a 24-hour heart rate is currently depressing. Accuracy% of whether or not it is. ”

Scientists knew that heart rate was associated with depression, but until now they couldn’t figure out exactly how one was associated with the other. This is because depression can reach and end over a long period of time, while heart rate can fluctuate rapidly, and most treatments take months to be effective. This makes it difficult to see if changes in depression are related to heart rate.

“Two innovative elements of this study were the continuous enrollment of heart rates for days and nights and the use of the new antidepressant ketamine, which can eliminate depression instantly, which results in average resting heart rate. It turns out that the numbers change, suddenly and suddenly to reflect the changing mood. “

Ketamine has a history of both anesthetics and party drugs (drugs of abuse). However, in December of last year, it was approved to treat major depression in Europe after being introduced in the United States a few months ago. Traditional antidepressants can take weeks to be effective, but ketamine acts rapidly and results are often seen in minutes.

Carmen Schiweck said: “We knew that heart rate was associated with mental illness, but we didn’t know what it was or whether it was clinically related. Past researchers said Depressed patients Was always high in heart rate and low in variability in heart rate, but it was difficult to follow up and correlate improvement in heart rate due to the time it takes to treat depression. But when I learned that ketamine could lead to a rapid improvement in mood, I knew that I might be able to use it to understand the link between depression and heart rate. “

Dr. Seeweck conducted the study at the Mindbody Research Group in KU Ruben, Belgium, with the lead investigator being Dr. Stephen Cress. The team processed a small sample of 16 patients with major depressive disorder. They measured their heart rate four days and three nights, and depression volunteers were given either ketamine treatment or placebo.

“We found that people with depression had higher baseline heart rates and lower heart rate variability, as expected. On average, people with depression have a heart rate of about per minute above control. Heart rate measurements were taken again after treatment that was 10 to 15 beats higher, and both heart rate and heart rate variability in previously depressed patients changed to be closer to what is seen in the control. I understand. “

The most striking finding was that scientists could use the 24-hour heart rate as a “biomarker” for depression. Heart rate was measured using a wearable mini ECG. The data was sent to an artificial intelligence program that was able to correctly classify almost all controls and patients as depressed or healthy.

“Normally Heart rate High during the day and low at night. Interestingly, depression seems to impair the decline in heart rate at night. This seems to be a way to identify patients at risk of depression or recurrence, “Schiweck said.

The team also found that patients with high resting heart rates responded better to treatment with ketamine. This helps identify which patients are more likely to respond to which treatment.

“It’s important to remember that this is a small proof-of-concept study, with 6 of the first 16 patients responding to treatment and at least 30% on the Hamilton rating scale for depression,” said Schiweck. Repeat the work with a larger antidepressant-free sample because of the decline. The next step is to track depressed and remission patients and confirm that the changes seen can be used as an early warning system. Is to do. “

“This is an innovative proof-of-concept study. My own group has previously studied short-term heart rate variability in control with over 1,000 depressed patients,” said Brenda Peninkus, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Amsterdam Medical Center. And did not detect consistent differentiation, and found that antidepressants had a greater impact depression The status itself. But this study monitors heart Rate fluctuations for days and days in a walking environment. This provides unique night and day information about the autonomic nervous system. We need to consider whether these interesting findings apply to larger and more diverse treatment environments. “

Professor Peninks was not involved in this study, this is an independent comment.

For more information:
Meeting Summary: Heart rate and heart rate variability as a feature or condition marker of depression? Insights from the Ketamine Treatment Paradigm