Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Cardiology And The Brain: How An Individual's Cardiovascular Health Relates To Their Mental Health, Megan Shea Kopicko

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

A scoping review was conducted to explore the relationship between the cardiovascular system and neurological system to determine if there is a connection between certain mental illnesses and heart health. This study was guided through implementation of Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework for scoping reviews. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases. Of the 934,251 sources found, only 21 studies met the study criteria and were ultimately selected for this study. Upon review, three themes were identified: (a) anxiety and cardiovascular disease; (b) schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease; and (c) depression and cardiovascular disease. …