How is emotional stress linked to heart disease?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:Emotional stress plays a major role in heart disease, both directly and indirectly.
There are direct connections between your brain and arteries throughout your body. Your brain communicates with your body in a number of ways, primarily via your nervous system and your hormones.
During times of stress, your brain stimulates your sympathetic nervous system. Your adrenal glands secrete stress hormones. Working together, these give you more energy to fight or to run, which helps you survive during times of danger.
Your heart beats faster. Also, the arteries in your arms and legs constrict and your blood clots more easily. This has survival value, so if you get wounded in battle or if a saber-toothed tiger bites you, you don’t bleed as much.
However, when stresses become chronic, as many people experience, these same mechanisms that are supposed to protect you may cause a heart attack if the arteries in your heart constrict or if blood clots form there.
Emotional stress plays a major role in heart disease, both directly and indirectly. There are direct connections between your brain and arteries throughout your body. Your brain communicates with your body in a number of ways, primarily via your... More -
Dr. Mary Ann Mclaughlin of The Mount Sinai Medical Center answered:Stress is relative when it comes to heart disease risk, says Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, medical director of the Cardiac Health Program at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. In this video, she explains how stress can increase your heart disease risk.
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Stress is relative when it comes to heart disease risk, says Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, medical director of the Cardiac Health Program at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. In this video, she explains how stress can increase your heart disease risk. More -
RealAge answered:According to Marc Gillinov, heart surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and coauthor of the book Heart 411, there's a strong connection between emotional stress and heart disease. "Emotional stress can trigger a heart attack in people with heart disease," he says. "It may also contribute to the development of heart disease."
Repeated bouts of anger -- like when you're cut off in traffic or you spill coffee on your keyboard -- are linked to thickening of the arteries and the development of plaque. Men who frequently display anger over time appear to have a greater risk of heart disease. People who are pessimistic, cynical, anxious, or depressed don't fare much better. In fact, most negative emotions have been associated with a greater risk of heart disease. Chronic job stress alone may double the risk of fatal heart attack.According to Marc Gillinov, heart surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and coauthor of the book Heart 411, there's a strong connection between emotional stress and heart disease. "Emotional stress can trigger a heart attack in people with heart... More
