Stress on the heart

Our heart is the most important part of our bodies. Without them we obviously cannot survive. It is best to take care of our hearts in whatever way we can. One way is to reduce stress because it helps decrease our risk or developing heart disease.

What is heart disease? Visit this slide show.

The American Heart Association says CHD is caused by the narrowing of the coronary arteries because of fatty build ups of plaque. With this it is likely to develop chest pains or even a heart attack.

Did you know? According to CDC.gov, heart disease claims more than 7 million lives each year.


According to medicinenet.com, although medical researchers do not have a positive answer to how stress increases the risk of heart disease, it is known that stressing out can cause our blood pressure to go up and could cause our cholesterol to become high which can both make out heart suffer.

Medicinenet continues to say, "If stress itself is a risk factor for heart disease, it could be because chronic stress exposes your body to unhealthy, persistently elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Studies also link stress to changes in the way blood clots, which increases the risk of heart attack."

It was found in a study done by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, that signs of heart disease are attributed to stress more frequently in women than men. "Dr. Chiaramonte stated, "For women, the presence of stress or anxiety drives the interpretation of accompanying symptoms so that symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath undergo a 'meaning shift' when presented in the context of stress or anxiety and they are perceived as a manifestation of the stress or anxiety and not as CHD symptoms. For men, cardiac symptoms drive the interpretation of accompanying symptoms so that anxiety or stress is perceived (rightly so) as a risk factor for CHD and may in fact augment the CHD assessment. The presence of anxiety or stress in men does not deter from the CHD assessment; for women, it appears to preclude a CHD assessment," sciencedaily.com said.

More about the study visit: CHD Study