Stress and cardiovascular risk
IF I ASKED YOU if long-term stress increased your risk of having a heart attack, you probably would answer in the affirmative. You may be surprised to learn that there is not much high-level evidence to confirm the stress: heart attack connection. A new study from Sweden confirms that long-term stress is likely a risk factor for heart attacks.
Stress can be valuable. For example, it can help your performance in meeting an important deadline. When we are in danger, stress can help us to avoid harm. However, chronic stress is different: You may experience anxiety, depression, irritability, challenges with sleep, and more. Can long-term stress lead to heart attack?
We have historical hints that chronic stress plays a causative role in heart attacks. Researchers in 2017 examined images of parts of the brain associated with fear and stress. They discovered links between stress and cardiovascular disease episodes. Now comes a new study doubling down on the proposition that we ought to avoid chronic stress.
Here’s what the researchers in the present “Streeheart” study did: They measured the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in hair. Our hair is a bit like a tree (with its growth rings): Scientists can measure cortisol levels backward in time.
Using hair samples measuring one to three centimeters in length, the study authors measured cortisol levels from 174 men and women admitted for a heart attack in south-eastern Sweden. The researchers also evaluated 3,000 age-matched controls.
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