Psychiatric Disorders and Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the first most important health issue of the twenty-first century, and the most important cause of mortality in Iran. According to statistics, 2 million Iranians are suffering from coronary heart disease. The Research Committee of the Iranian Society of Cardiac Surgeons has announced that the age of exposure to cardiovascular disease in Iran is approximately 7-10 years less than other countries. In developed countries, people are exposed to this disease in the sixth decade of their lives. However, most of the people in Iran are exposed to this disease during the fifth decade of their life. There are about 50 thousand heart surgeries performed annually in Iran. The psychiatric disorders factors as independent risk factors have an important part in physical chronic diseases, particularly coronary heart disease. Findings of this study revealed that psychiatric factors have a very important role in the etiology, development, duration, and outcome of CHD disease. The high co-morbidity between psychiatric disorders and coronary heart disease needs more attention.