Stress And Heart Disease
Stress behavior and heart disease
Don’t be shocked to hear this when I say that Stress behavior and heart disease are two inter connected things. Well, every person in this world, goes under some type of stress every day, and it is a very normal part of life. Stress and coronary heart disease are related, because if stress is left unmanaged, it can lead to emotional, psychological and even physical problems, including high blood pressure, chest pains or even irregular heartbeats. Medical researchers aren’t very much sure exactly how stress increases the risk of heart disease. Stress itself might be a risk factor, or it could be that high levels of stress make other risk factors (such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure) worse. 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.
There are mainly two types of stress one is physical stress and the other is the emotional stress. Physical stress – exercise or other forms of physical exertion – places measurable and reproducible demands on the heart. Like going for a walk, regular exercise for some fixed time, cycling etc. This kind of stress is good for the heart. But, if a person is suffering from heart disease, then too much of physical stress can be dangerous. In a person who has coronary artery disease, for instance, exercise can place demands on the heart muscle that the diseased coronary arteries cannot meet, and the heart becomes ischemic (i.e., starved for oxygen.) The ischemic heart muscle can cause either angina (chest pain), or a heart attack (actual death of cardiac muscle). Emotional stress- there is no evidence that the emotional stress and heart disease are related. But there is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that chronic emotional stress can be associated with heart disease and early death.
Below are some common stressors that can affect people at all stages of life. Illness, either personal or of a family member or friend, Death of a friend or loved one, Problems in a personal relationship, Work overload, Starting a new job, Unemployment, Retire, pregnancy, Crowds, Relocation, Daily hassles, Legal problems, Financial concerns, Perfectionism etc. these are all the possible sources on how the stress of a patient increases without much effort.
The stress behavior and heart disease does not go hand in hand because people respond in different ways to events and situations. One person may find an event pleasurable and gratifying, but another person may find the same event unhappy and frustrating. Sometimes, people may handle stress in ways that make bad situations worse by reacting with feelings of anger, guilt, fear, hostility, anxiety and moodiness. Others may face life’s challenges with ease and not much worries.