AT AGE 30, Yvonne Herr went to the emergency room thinking she was suffering from a bad bout of bronchitis. She was stunned to learn she was having a heart attack and jolted again when she found that she would have to undergo quintuple bypass surgery. The unpleasant surprises continued in the weeks after the surgery when a dark, ever-present mood set in. "I got very depressed," said Herr, now 39. "It was like, `Wow, why is this happening to me?' I knew I needed help." Fortunately, she got treatment for the depression. Her family doctor put her on an anti-depressant and she began seeing a psychologist. Through medication and regular visits with a psychologist, her depression has been under control, she said.

A new study suggests that treating depression that develops after a heart attack may help prevent future heart attacks. Indeed, after years of research showing a strong connection between depression and heart disease, some doctors have become more aggressive about making sure that depressed heart patients get help for their mood as well as their heart.

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology involved 468 people who had been hospitalised for a heart attack and were followed for 2 years. After the initial heart attack, 10 patients died of a subsequent heart attack or some other cardiovascular problem and 99 patients suffered a non-fatal heart attack or other cardiovascular event.