Can stress cause a heart attack?

Health experts aren’t completely certain, but research shows that uncontrolled stress can have long-term effects on your health – and your heart.

Chronic stress forces the body to remain in “high gear” for too long. That takes a toll on your energy level and your immune system, which needs rest and relaxation to recharge and keep your body healthy.

“Stress certainly has a negative impact on the entire body and is linked to having a negative impact on heart disease,” said Loraine Cusumano, director of Cardiovascular Services at McLaren Macomb.

She pointed out that McLaren’s cardiac programs typically teach patients to manage stress and to make healthy lifestyle changes.

“While a certain amount of stress can be a normal part of life,” she said, “unmanaged, chronic stress can lead to emotional and physical problems, including heart disease.”

Here’s why. The human body is pretty amazing. That feeling of stress is actually the way our bodies react to a threat, whether it’s something real or perceived. Stress causes the body to kick into action – our heart rate and breathing speed up, our muscles tighten and get ready to “flee” or take action, if needed.

It’s a useful reaction, but the body wasn’t meant to exist in this kind of state for very long. Modern stress factors, such as busy work schedules, conflicts with friends or family, or maybe financial pressures, can all add up to too much worry and anxiety.

Prolonged stress floods the body with stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, Cusumano said. Too much of these in the bloodstream can lead to dangerous health situations, such as:

• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Increased storage of fat
• Excess eating, drinking or smoking to try to cope with the stress
• Other health problems, such as ulcers or even diabetes

Stress and your heart

For people with underlying heart disease, stress can be another factor that brings on a heart attack. When someone is under stress, they experience an increased heart rate, along with reduced flow of blood to the heart.

That can lead to a dangerous situation for someone who already has heart problems.
“Stress and the release of stress hormones are also linked to changes in the way the blood clots,” she said, “which can increase a person’s risk for a heart attack.”

Managing the risk

Of course, it’s not possible to eliminate all stress in our lives, but learning to pinpoint the causes of stress is a first step. Hopefully, you can then learn to manage situations and events to minimize stress.

What else can you do?

• Exercise more and eat a healthy diet (exercise also increases cardiovascular function and it helps to keep weight better managed)
• Try to do more of the things you enjoy, such as dancing, reading or just hanging out with friends
• Practice relaxation techniques, such as yoga or deep breathing
• Try to avoid stressful situations, if possible
• Talk to your doctor if you feel you suffer from severe anxiety or feel overwhelmed by stress

For more information on cardiac programs at McLaren Macomb, please visit www.mclaren.org/macombheart.