High Anxiety Risky for Heart Patients

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, May 15, 2007; 12:00 AM

By Andrea Hughes, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A high anxiety level is not healthy for anyone, but a new study shows patients with high anxiety levels and heart disease have nearly double the risk for heart attack or death than calmer patients.

The study, out of Harvard Medical School in Boston, reveals patients had the greatest risk when their anxiety levels intensified over time, while those who started out anxious but eventually found inner tranquility reduced their risk for heart attack and coronary-related death.

Previous studies have shown depression and mental stress have harmful effects on cardiovascular health, but there has been little information on the negative effects of anxiety or the benefits of stress relief until now. Researchers from this new study observed 516 patients with coronary artery disease. At the beginning of the study, and then again each year during the three year span of the study, patients filled out questionnaires about their moods and feelings. During the study, 19 people died, and 44 experienced a nonfatal heart attack. According to these results, researchers found those patients with the highest anxiety scores from the questionnaires had nearly double the risk of heart attack or death than those in the lowest third of the anxiety scores.

Researchers suggest several ways to alleviate anxiety, such as exercising and adjusting medications. Shani Saks, D.O., a cardiologist at the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix, told Ivanhoe that a good doctor/patient relationship is the most important factor. Dr. Saks said, "When the patients understand their condition, it alleviates a lot of their anxiety, and being able to ask questions of their doctors and having them answered in an understandable way reduces a lot of their worries about the condition."

James L. Januzzi, M.D., F.A.C.C., an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the cardiac intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, has been quoted as saying, "This study provides further insight into the complex connections between the brain and heart." According to this study, the next step is to determine the most effective ways to relieve anxiety and thereby improve cardiac health. Dr. Saks agrees and says many patients are anxious about the unknown. She told Ivanhoe, "The fear of the unknown is a very big fear, and we see a lot of people coming in for a heart screening, and they don't know for sure if they even have a problem, but they're very anxious and very worried and we do some general, pretty painless screening on them, and in many of the cases these people check out OK. They are just beside themselves with happiness because piece of mind is really a big factor in all this."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Cardiologist Shani Saks, D.O.; Journal of the American College of Cardiology, published online on May 3, 2007