Stress and Cardiovascular Disease
Does Chest Pain Stress
Lead to Heart Disease?
Stress and cardiovascular disease have had a long association. Chronic and prolonged stress affects our health and our mental and emotional well-being. Learning to manage stress can help prevent heart disease...
The relationship between stress and heart disease has been well documented by research. So, especially if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, you need to learn to relax and manage the stress in your life!
Photo courtesy of seyed mostafa zamani
Learning to handle stress and anxiety
can help prevent heart disease.
We are aware that stress affects our health and well-being. The detrimental effects of stress on the cardiovascular system have been documented through research.But, exactly how do stress and cardiovascular disease have a connection?
Lower Your Blood Pressure with Hypnosis
Stress and Blood Pressure
When your blood pressure is too high, you are at greater risk for developing heart disease.Your blood pressure varies according to different mental stress activity. And your mental and emotional stress activity differs, according to how long you are under stress, how well you were prepared psychologically, your expectations and your stress management techniques. When you face mental stress, your blood pressure increases, but it differs according to the stressor and the situation. Acute stress is associated with increased blood pressure, but does chronic stress lead to cardiovascular disease? Chronic stress can lead to cardiovascular disease, as it causes a prolonged activation of the sympathetic nervous system. In other words, your sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive--and stays there. And your blood pressure rises--and stays there!
Stress and Heart Rate
As your body prepares to protect itself with fight or flight responses, your heart rate increases so that blood can reach all the parts of your body where it will be needed (to fight or run).However, you don’t have to be threatened physically for this to occur. Your body has the very same response if you are facing an exam in college, playing a video game or speaking in front of a group of people. Changes in behavior may modify cardiovascular response, heart rate in particular. Although studies show that stress alters cardiovascular response, they do not prove that stress induces cardiovascular disease.
Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease
Everyone is under stress from time to time. And stress that helps keep us motivated and energetic (eustress) can be healthy and what helps us succeed.Totally getting rid of stress in today’s world is pretty much impossible. We live in a fast paced world, with constant stress and pressure. Chronic stressors such as major life changes (marriage, divorce, birth of a child) as well as psychological stress, have been found to link to cardiovascular disease. And a strong association has been found between psychological stress and cardiovascular disease.
Your Personality and Stress
Personality factors such as anger, hostility, depression and anxiety have been related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Responding to stress with anger, increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, especially myocardial infarction (heart attack). Studies have shown that men with a Type A behavior had a greater risk of coronary heart disease. And, in addition, hypertension (high blood pressure) increases with hostility and a sense of urgency or impatience. Your reaction to stress causes a response in your nervous system! Your personality type and personality factors play a large role in how you handle stress and whether you will end up with cardiovascular disease. How stress affects your health and well-being is determined by how you perceive stress, and your behaviors, thoughts and reaction to stressors. If this all sounds pretty ominous to you, relax. There are things that you can do to prevent cardiovascular disease. Stress and cardiovascular disease, while connected, do not have to take their toll on your health and well-being! A healthy diet and lifestyle, stress reduction techniques, learning to relax ,
anger management, and treatment of psychological stress will go a long way toward preventing cardiovascular disorders.
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