Young women who suffer from depression are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease, a new study finds.

Depression is known to take a toll on a person's health. A new study by researchers from Emory University found that young and middle-aged women who suffer from moderate or severe cases of depression are at a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack, dying or requiring artery-opening procedures.

"Women in this age group are also more likely to have depression, so this may be one of the 'hidden' risk factors that can help explain why women die at a disproportionately higher rate than men after a heart attack," said Amit Shah, study author in a press statement.

The study examined 3,237 people who had or were suspected to have a heart disease. About 34 percent of them were women. All the participants were scheduled for coronary angiography, an X-ray that diagnoses disease in the arteries that supply blood to the heart.  Researchers looked if any of the participants had any depression symptoms.

After three years, researchers found that among women who were younger than 55 years, every one point increase in symptoms of depression increased heart diseases risk by 7 percent. However, there was no such association among older women. Researchers also noted that younger women were at a 2.17 times higher risk of suffering from a heart attack, dying or requiring artery-opening procedures. Researchers also found that the younger women were at a 2.45 percent higher risk of dying from any cause if they were depressed.

"All people, and especially younger women, need to take depression very seriously," Shah said. "Depression itself is a reason to take action, but knowing that it is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and death should motivate people to seek help. Providers need to ask more questions. They need to be aware that young women are especially vulnerable to depression, and that depression may increase the risk to their heart."

According to the American Heart Association, depression is also a risk factor for diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. Researchers are also looking into whether women under stress have more cardiovascular changes than men.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and funded by the National Institutes of Health and Emory Heart and Vascular Center.