Doctors are becoming increasingly aware of the risks depression can impose on the heart. Now a new study adds to the growing body of evidence that feeling down is a risk factor for heart disease.

Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., studied 4,493 people age 65 and older, some who had suffered heart problems in the past. Every study participant underwent a 90-minute at-home interview where they were asked about their feelings, health, medical history, irritability, worries and loneliness. They were also asked whether they struggled focusing on day-to-day activities. All study participants also underwent a medical exam.

For every five-point increase on the depression scale, there was a 15 percent hike in heart disease risk, researchers report in the Oct. 10 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Women more often reported depressive symptoms than men, smokers had more problems focusing on daily activities than nonsmokers due to physical impairments, and individuals who were physically inactive or overweight had higher depression scores. Married folks had lower depression scores than people living alone.

"This study has established that symptoms of depression are an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease in older individuals," says researcher Dr. Curt Furberg. "This doesn't mean that depressive symptoms are a cause of coronary heart disease but that the presence of depressive symptoms predicts the development of disease."

Depression may be linked to heart disease, Dr. Furberg says, because people who are depressed typically engage in unhealthy habits that are bad for the heart, such as smoking and not exercising. He also points out that depression causes stress, which can then raise levels of free radicals and fatty acids, harmful molecules that can damage blood vessels. Mental stress may also elevate plaque levels, the fatty substances that block blood flow, Dr. Furberg says. It's unclear, he adds, whether reducing depression rates among the elderly could cut down the heart disease rate among this age group.

--By Katrina Woznicki

"Do not be afraid of growing slowly. Be only afraid of standing still."
- Chinese Proverb

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, there lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen!

In order to keep food on the table for this lot, the father -- a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder Albrecht Durer's children had an ambition. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew fully well that their father would never be financially capable of sending either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines, and with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his four-year study, he would support the other brother at the academy either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and thus went off to Nuremberg. Albert, his brother, went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, provided finances for Albrecht.

Albrecht was an immediate sensation. His etchings, woodcuts, and oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner in their humble yard to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, garnished with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, to Albert, blessed brother of mine... it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of your needs."

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table...But there Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, gently shaking his lowered head while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No..."

Slowly Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he love... and he lifted his hands for everyone to see... And softly he said, "No, Albrecht. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late... Look... Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands...The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and now I suffer from arthritis so badly that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast... much less draw delicate lines on parchment with a pen or a brush. My dear brother ... for me it is too late."

More than 450 years later, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world. But the odds are great that you --like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than just being familiar, you may even have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

To pay homage to Albert for all his sacrifices, Albrecht Durer drew his brother Albert's labored hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the world opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed this tribute of love, "The Praying Hands."

If you happen to chance upon a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it remind us of all brotherly love, of our parents and family, and the sacrifices and support that people have extended for us... All the things that we have achieved and would still achieve are not entirely our own sole doing.

Remember this, for so often we forget the people who love us most are the ones whom we carelessly forget and hurt.