Now there is scientific proof of the stress / heart attack connection:
Salivary
cortisol responses to mental stress are associated with
coronary artery calcification in healthy men and
women
Avijit Lahiri and Andrew
Steptoe, Mark Hamer, Katie O'Donnell
Abstract Methods and
results Conclusion Stress
can cause a strong feeling of apprehension, and worry,
and while sometimes a fear is justified, such as a
dangerous situation, it is also often exaggerated.
Stress
may occur without a cause, or it may occur mentally, but
exaggerated. Severe stress can be very serious and
interfere with daily life. After a heart operation or
after discovering that you have a high risk of heart
disorders it is very important to control your stress
levels and relaxation. These six CDs have been designed
to help heart patients reach a deep state of
relaxation.
Department of
Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London,
1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UKCardiac Imaging
and Research Center, Wellington Hospital, London, UK.
Corresponding author. Email:
m.hamer@ucl.ac.uk
Accepted August 26,
2009.
Aims Psycho social
stress is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD),
although the mechanisms are incompletely understood. We
examined the cross-sectional association between the
cortisol response to laboratory-induced mental stress and a
marker of sub-clinical coronary atherosclerosis.
Participants were 514
healthy men and women (mean age = 62.9 ± 5.7 years),
without history or objective signs of CHD, drawn from the
Whitehall II epidemiological cohort. Salivary cortisol was
measured in response to mental stress, consisting of a 5
mins Stroop task and a 5 mins mirror tracing task. Coronary
artery calcification (CAC) was measured using electron beam
computed tomography. Approximately 40% of the sample
responded to the stress tasks with a notable (?1 nmol/L)
increase in cortisol. Significant CAC (Agatston score ? 100)
was recorded in 23.9% of the sample. The cortisol response
group demonstrated a higher risk of significant CAC (odds
ratio = 2.20, 95% CI, 1.393.47) after adjustments for
age, gender, baseline cortisol, employment grade, and
conventional risk factors, although cortisol was unrelated
to the presence of detectable CAC. Among participants with
detectable CAC, the cortisol response group also
demonstrated higher log Agatston scores compared with
non-responders (age and sex adjusted scores; 4.51 ±
0.15 vs. 3.94 ± 0.13, P = 0.004).
In healthy, older
participants without history or objective signs of CHD,
heightened cortisol reactivity is associated with a greater
extent of CAC. These data support the notion that heightened
hypothalamic pituitary adrenal activity is a risk factor for
CHD.
Stress
is a normal reaction to tense situations, helping us to
cope with each situation. When stress becomes irrational
it can be a crippling disorder, which can be cured using
hypnotherapy.