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1 IN 4 Don’t Underestimate the Effects of Stress on Heart Health by TERESA SCHIFFER
H
eart disease accounts for one in every four deaths in the United States. With odds like that, it’s good to know that some contributing factors are within your control. Stress is one of those factors. Everyone experiences stress at some point, and most of us are familiar with the physical symptoms it can cause: headaches, stomach pain, sleeplessness, depression, and more. Research shows that stress can have a seriously detrimental impact on your heart, which makes it all the more important to learn to manage stress in a healthy manner. Stress can be caused by any number of triggers. Some of these are obvious, such as being overworked, arguing with family members, or illness. Less obvious are the events in our lives that we look forward to that cause stress, things
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like getting married, buying a home, having a baby, or getting a promotion. These relatively joyous events can bring unanticipated stress. Whatever the cause, the body’s reaction to a stressful situation is pretty standard. Adrenaline and cortisol are released, and these hormones speed up your breathing and heart rate, increasing blood pressure. This is the class “fight or flight” response. This is your body’s way of protecting itself by preparing you to deal with a dangerous situation. Chronic stress occurs when you are in a constant state of stress for days or weeks at a time. Without time to recover, chronic stress can cause significant increases in blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides. All of these factors are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. centralfloridahealthnews.com
