Editorial Team
... Read More
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 6, 2014 3:57 PM IST
Researchers have shown that anger, anxiety, and depression not only affect the functioning of the heart, but also increase heart disease risk. Stroke and heart attacks are the end products of progressive damage to blood vessels supplying the heart and brain, a process called atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis progresses when there are high levels of chemicals in the body called pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is thought that persisting stress increases the risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease by evoking negative emotions that, in turn, raise the levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals in the body. Researchers have now investigated the underlying neural circuitry of this process, and report their findings in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry. (Read: Revealed the five tell-tale symptoms of stroke)
To conduct the study, Dr. Peter Gianaros, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and first author on the study and his colleagues recruited 157 healthy adult volunteers who were asked to regulate their emotional reactions to unpleasant pictures while their brain activity was measured with functional imaging. The researchers also scanned their arteries for signs of atherosclerosis to assess heart disease risk and measured levels of inflammation in the bloodstream, a major physiological risk factor for atherosclerosis and premature death by heart disease. (Read: Coming soon A treatment to rehabilitate stroke patients?)
They found that individuals who show greater brain activation when regulating their negative emotions also exhibit elevated blood levels of interleukin-6, one of the body's pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased thickness of the carotid artery wall, a marker of atherosclerosis. The inflammation levels accounted for the link between signs of atherosclerosis and brain activity patterns seen during emotion regulation. Importantly, the findings were significant even after controlling for a number of different factors, like age, gender, smoking, and other conventional heart disease risk factors.
The study has been published in the journal Biological Psychiatry
What are risk factors of stroke?
A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted or blocked. Due to lack of blood supply, neurons (brain cells) in that particular part of the brain start dying within a couple of minutes. Therefore, stroke can have long-term impact on the body depending on the functions of the body controlled by the affected brain area.
Stroke can affect a person at any age but certain factors put you at a greater risk of suffering from a stroke. Here are they:
1. Age: Aging is one of the major risk factors for stroke. The risk is almost doubled with every decade after the age of 55 years. So a person who's 80-years old is 30 times likely to suffer a stroke compared to a 50 year old.
2. Family history: If you have a family member who has suffered a stroke then your chances raise slightly. This is because stroke can also be caused by a genetic mutation that results in damage to the blood vessels. If you have inherited this gene mutation from your parents then your chances of suffering from stroke increase.
3. Personal history: If you have had a stroke earlier in your life, you chance of suffering another one increases by 10 times compared to a person of the same age and gender who has not suffered a stroke. The annual risk of a subsequent stroke in survivors is almost 5%.
4. Gender: The relationship between gender and the occurrence of stroke is slightly complicated. Some studies mention that women are at a higher risk of stroke while other say men are likely to get affected. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, men are more likely to suffer from stroke than women at a younger age and women are more likely to die of a stroke than men. (Read: Stroke: 15 risk factors you should know)
With inputs from ANI
You may also like to read:
For more articles on stroke, visit our stroke section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.
