STUDY: Women who feel stressed on a day-to-day basis are more likely to die

JOURNAL: Circulation 2002;106

AUTHORS: Dr. Hiroyaso Iso

ABSTRACT: Women who feel stressed on a day-to-day basis are more likely to die from stroke and heart disease than their more mellow peers, even when they do not have other risk factors, researchers report.

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COMMENTARY: The results are based on data from more than 73,000 people aged 40 to 79 enrolled in a Japanese study on cancer. The findings confirm the results of numerous studies on the relationship between mental stress and heart disease and stroke among white men. In the current report, participants were asked to rate the level of stress in their daily lives.

According to the results, Japanese women reporting high levels of mental stress were more than twice as likely to die from stroke and heart disease than women reporting low stress levels, over the following 8 years.

Stressed-out women were on average younger, more educated, less active and thinner, and were more likely to have a history of high blood pressure and diabetes. They also smoked more and were more likely to have a full-time job compared with more relaxed women, according to Dr. Hiroyaso Iso from the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki-ken, Japan, and colleagues.

The association between mental stress and death from heart disease and stroke was weaker among men for reasons that are not clear. Stressed out men were more likely to die of a heart attack, but there was no association between stress and stroke or coronary heart disease, Iso and colleagues report.

Nonetheless, the findings add evidence that stress can affect the body in a way that raises the risk of chronic disease. Mental stress can raise blood pressure and heart rate, increase the risk of developing blood clots, cause blood vessels to constrict, and make the body less sensitive to insulin. All of these factors may make a person more susceptible to chronic disease.

The present study provides...evidence that perceived mental stress has the potential effect of increasing the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease.

Although the underlying mechanisms are not well established, individuals with high mental stress should be regarded as a high-risk group for stroke among women, and individuals with coronary heart disease should be regarded as a high-risk group for stroke among men and women.

Bottom line is to do everything in your power to reduce your levels of stress.