Chronic Worrying Would Not Help But
Increase Risk of Heart Attack!

There is a connection between the heart and the head. When people face problems that they could not handle, they usually start to worry. They cannot eat, cannot sleep well, and cannot concentrate in their work. Can worrying really help them solve the problems? The answer is certainly no! Worst still, chronic anxiety could even increase the risk of heart attack!

A new study was carried out by University of Southern California, and its findings were published on the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on January 7, 2008. Previous research had already shown that psychological profiles such as anger or hostility, workaholic behavior, and depression were linked to heart disease. The new findings have added anxiety to the list of psychological profiles.

Wait a minute, a hostile person and an anxious one behave very differently: one outgoing while one timid. Yes, these two types of people may have different behavior; their physiological responses are nevertheless quite similar. They have higher blood pressure and heart rate, and they produce more stress hormones.

The researchers used data from a national aging study, known as Normative Aging Study, to estimate the impact of anxiety on the heart. The aging study had since 1986 tracked 735 men. These people were heart-healthy at the study's start, have completed extensive psychological testing, and underwent medical exams every three years.

By 2004, there were 75 heart attacks among the participants. Men who scored in the top 15 percent of anxiety scales were tracked. The anxiety scales measure things like excessive doubts, social insecurity, phobias and stress. Those men deemed chronically anxious were 30 percent to 40 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those more easygoing ones, even after those standard heart risk factors such as cholesterol problems, and other heart negative personality traits were taken into account.

People are anxious every now and then. The issue here is not just the understandable sweaty palms before a big speech or nervousness at a party, but longstanding anxiety that makes people to be socially withdrawn, fearful, and become chronic worriers.

This research is considered important by other health experts because doctors tend to focus very much on dealing on the traditional risk factors with the help of medicine for cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, and treating diabetes. Yet, they overlook the psychological aspect of their patients.

Would treatment of anxiety lower the risk of heart disease? Unfortunately, no one knows so far. That is why these personality traits are considered 'markers' for heart disease, not outright 'risk factors' like
cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension.

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