In the news recently, researchers were looking at a purported link between heart attacks and anxiety attacks, examining the role that stress can play in our mental and physical health. “In our modern society, stress … hormones continue to wash through the system in high levels, never leaving,” explains National Institute of Health scientists Dr. George Chrousos and Dr. Philip Gold. “And so, the stress response that once gave ancient people the speed and endurance to escape life-threatening dangers runs constantly in many modern people and never shuts down.” Scientists wish to know the end result of panic anxiety over extended periods of time.
The life of a person suffering from attacks of stress and anxiety is full of relentless suffering. The individual feels constantly pumped up with stress, lurching from one manic rollercoaster to the next. Sometimes a specific event will trigger the panic anxiety, such as a sudden change in work responsibilities, hearing of someone’s illness, watching a news story about an assault or burglary on the news or sitting in standstill rush hour traffic. Following the event, the person may feel out of control for ten to thirty minutes, or it could spill over into the entire weekend, waxing and waning. Sometimes the panic attacks anxiety came out of nowhere and butterflies would appear in the stomach while putting on makeup, making a cup of tea or trying to fall asleep at night. Anxiety attack patients feel light-headed, confused, short of breath, sweaty and their limbs may go numb. They wonder if it will ever end or if they are crazy or if this stress can cause heart attacks?
So what are the physical effects of stress and anxiety attacks on the body? Dr. Paul Rosch wrote in the February American Institute of Stress newsletter that the secretion of stress hormone near the heart muscle’s nerve endings can cause heart attacks in people with low cholesterol and healthy arteries. Anxiety and depression can leave behind harmful chemicals that seep into blood and heart tissues, he added. In a 26-year follow-up study to the Framington Heart Study, 50% of people who developed coronary heart disease had below-average cholesterol levels but higher incidences of stress and attacks of anxiety. It’s believed that stress can raise cholesterol levels more than fatty foods, although this tidbit is not discussed as much since there are so many lucrative cholesterol drugs on the market.
In the “Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project,” direct links were tied from emotions and second heart attacks. Researchers found that women tended to feel panic attacks anxiety following their first heart attack, whereas men were more inclined to feel hostile and angry about it. According to Dr. Carl Thoresen, emotions play a major role in heart health. Dr. Stephen Weiss of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute added that people “who make behavioral changes may be able to prevent subsequent heart attacks.” In the study, men who underwent behavioral treatment for their anger and anxiety attacks had 44% less heart attacks than the group seeing only a cardiologist. Also, half of the 18 women who survived a second heart attack exhibited similar symptoms of agoraphobia panic disorder: they were afraid to be in crowded elevators, to drive, to go to work or go to grocery stores.
