Mental illness raises fatal heart attack risk

Out of 6,002 sudden cardiac deaths, 2,319 were people with mental illnesses

The risk of death due to a sudden heart attack could be four times higher for patients with schizophrenia, a new study has found.

For those having other types of mental illness, such as depression, the death risk is still twice as high, regardless of age, suggesting that an 18-year-old could expect to live 10 years fewer compared to one of the same age without mental health issues, researchers have found.

The team from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said that while having a psychiatric condition is known to heighten death risk due to a sudden cardiac arrest, it is not clear if the risk extends across one's lifespan.