The reason why stress causes heart attacks and strokes may finally have been discovered by scientists, leading to hopes that it could be prevented. For years experts have puzzled as to how chronic anxiety leads to heart problems. But now scientists have found that people who have heightened activity in a part of the brain…
Scientists said Sunday they may have unravelled how chronic stress leads to heart attack and stroke: triggering overproduction of disease-fighting white blood cells which can be harmful in excess. Surplus cells clump together on the inner walls of arteries, restricting blood flow and encouraging the formation of clots that block circulation or break off and travel…
Emotional distress, also known as psychological distress, can increase the risk of death in the general population. Anecdotal evidence has shown that distress leads to a myriad of health disorders. [Psychol Med 1995;25(5):1073-86, Ann Epidemiol 2004;14:467-72] Emotional distress, a term referring to the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety, has been linked to an…