Younger women with coronary heart disease and mental stress are more susceptible to myocardial ischemia (reduced blood flow to the heart muscle, which can lead to a heart attack), compared to men and older patients, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Coronary heart disease is a leading cause of death in American men and women, but studies show that younger women have higher rates of complications and death after a heart attack compared to their male counterparts.
Interesting Facts on Stress
Response given by the body to any kind of demand is called stress. Both good and bad experiences can cause stress. Knowing how to manage stress is important for physical and mental well-being.
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‘Early diagnosis of mental stress and recommending activities like meditation and relaxation techniques will help to reduce the damaging effects of stress on hearts of young women.’
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"Younger women tend to have quite a lot of stress in their lives. Many of them have full-time jobs and at the same time have numerous responsibilities at home; financial hardship, as well as depression and anxiety which are common in this group," said Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., lead study author, professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. "Clinicians should ask about stress and emotional difficulties in these patients and recommend ways to help, such as finding time to relax and exercise."
The Mental Stress Ischemia Mechanisms Prognosis study included 686 patients (191 women) between 34 and 79 years old with coronary heart disease. Patients underwent imaging tests, meaning researchers took pictures of their hearts before and during mental stress, and then examined changes in blood flow between men and women with age as a factor.
![Being Fake on Facebook can Make You Depressed and Stressed]( "Being Fake on Facebook can Make You Depressed and Stressed")
The more one's 'Facebook self' differs from their true self, the greater their stress level and less socially connected they tend to be, claim researchers.
They found stress-induced, reduced blood flow which happened more often in younger women compared to men and older women. This occurred in 33% of women age 50 years old or younger compared to 8%of men of similar ages. The difference between men and women decreased with age and disappeared in older patients. The frequency of reduced blood flow almost doubled in women compared to men for every 10-year decrease in age.
"Our findings suggest that women with heart disease in their 30s, 40s and early 50s are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of psychological stress on their heart," Vaccarino said.
Researchers said their study is limited by the relatively small number of younger women involved and that further studies are needed to confirm the clinical significance of mental stress-induced heart attacks in women.
Source: Medindia
Being Fake on Facebook can Make You Depressed and Stressed
The more one's 'Facebook self' differs from their true self, the greater their stress level and less socially connected they tend to be, claim researchers.
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They found stress-induced, reduced blood flow which happened more often in younger women compared to men and older women. This occurred in 33% of women age 50 years old or younger compared to 8%of men of similar ages. The difference between men and women decreased with age and disappeared in older patients. The frequency of reduced blood flow almost doubled in women compared to men for every 10-year decrease in age.
"Our findings suggest that women with heart disease in their 30s, 40s and early 50s are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of psychological stress on their heart," Vaccarino said.
Researchers said their study is limited by the relatively small number of younger women involved and that further studies are needed to confirm the clinical significance of mental stress-induced heart attacks in women.
Source: Medindia
Quiz on Work Stress
Do you look forward to going to work each day? Do you find your work challenging and stimulating? No? You may be suffering from work stress. Take this quiz and find out more about work stress.
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