Middle-aged women are significantly more likely to suffer a stroke if they are depressed, a new study has found.

Australian researchers followed the progress of over 10,500 women over a 12-year-period. All were aged between 47 and 52. This marks the first large-scale study to specifically look at the link between stroke and depression in younger middle-aged women.

It found that middle-aged women were 2.4 times more likely to suffer a stroke if they also had depression compared to those without depression. After potentially influencing factors were taken into account, such as age, smoking and high blood pressure, those who were depressed were still almost twice as likely to suffer a stroke.

"When treating women, doctors need to recognise the serious nature of poor mental health and what effects it can have in the long-term," commented study author, Dr Caroline Jackson, of the University of Queensland.

She said that similar results could be expected in European and American women.

She called for more targeted approaches to prevent and treat depression among younger women, ‘because it could have a much stronger impact on stroke for them now rather than later in life'.

"It's still unclear why depression may be strongly linked to stroke in this age group. The body's inflammatory and immunological processes and their effects on our blood vessels may be part of the reasons," Dr Jackson added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Stroke.

For more information on depression, see our Depression Clinic here