Cardiac Patients and Stress

Stress is a problem which, when unchecked, can cause a host of problems and this has been confirmed in a study which appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study, which looked at the cardiac consequences of performance anxiety, an argument with a loved one or doing math calculations and its related stress, found that "what goes on in their heads could have consequences for their hearts as well."

The results of the study indicate that certain heart disease patients are more vulnerable to the physical effects of this psychological stress. Anxiety, depression and anger were seen as contributing to heart-related problems. Investigators found that one-third of their patients had temporary changes in heart rhythm or restricted blood flow, even when they were placed in artificial situations where they role played the aforementioned problems with anxiety and stress.

One of the professors indicated that "we believe the phenomenon of mental stress-induced reductions in blood flow to the heart is much more common than has been previously recognized." Psychological stress was seen as playing a potentially lethal role in arrhythmias, blood clotting, and spikes in blood pressure. The stress may bring on, it's theorized, spasms in the small blood vessels of the heart and reduce blood flow.

In order to help cardiac patients in a complete treatment plan, the researchers suggest, it's necessary to come up with real-life solutions patients can use every day to avoid this dangerous predisposition to stress.

Related Topics: Learn & Live Quiz from the American Heart Association, Why Men and Women Handle Stress Differently


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