Health warning at the top of Everest

VICTORIA PENDLETON is a phenomenal athlete. A gold medalist at London 2012, she was the holder of nine world titles during her career as a track cyclist.

Later, she retrained as a jockey, competing at Cheltenham, and earlier this year set off to scale Everest. She’s clearly a courageous woman with powerful mental drive and determination, but has now developed depression.

This week, Pendleton revealed that the altitude sickness which forced her to abandon that Everest attempt had left her suffering a depressive illness. Doctors told her that a lack of oxygen — at one point her levels fell to just 21 per cent — could have triggered it.

As a junior doctor, I worked on a stroke ward with a very forward-thinking professor who would routinely prescribe an antidepressant for patients, explaining that around half of such patients will develop depression.

Rates of depression after stroke are significantly higher than would be expected in people who experience serious illness. It is thought that a lack of oxygen in the brain following stroke damages neurons and causes a fall in neurotransmitters — chemicals responsible for mood. Antidepressants help to adjust this imbalance.

So if a loved one has a stroke, be aware that depression may develop and seek help promptly.