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Prolonged Stress, Depression and Heart Health
Top Researched Conditions Online
According to information published by research firm comScore Networks, 33 million Internet users visited a prescription medication site in the third quarter in 2006, an increase of 13 percent the same period a year ago.
Top searches for specific health conditions by the number of unique visitors were: depression, 2.9 million; bipolar disorder, 1.8 million; and insomnia, 1.7 million. Depression strikes women twice as much as men and affects 10% of US population – National institutes of Health.
More About Stress and Depression
Stress and depression are now strongly linked, with chronic stress effects often leading to feelings of depression. According to National Institute of Mental Health, brain imaging and neurology have shown that stress anxiety and work stress do act to "rewire" the brain's emotional circuitry, altering connections in a way that it affects the manner in which the brain functions. Stress triggers a "fear center" in the brain’s amygdala that takes over emotions and affects thinking.
Brain imaging scans have shown those who suffer from long-term stress effects may lose the ability to feel positive feelings in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that maintains and originates emotions. When that depressed brain is "rewired," stress, anxiety and fear can flow unimpeded from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.
Prolonged Stress, Distrust and Depression Associated With Inflammatory Markers
Research at the University of Michigan reported on a study of 6,814 men and women (enrolled between 2000 and 2002) that utilized questionnaires and blood samples that were analyzed for IL-6, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen (all markers for inflammation). The study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, found that negative factors such as chronic stress symptoms, cynical distrust and depression were associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers measured in the blood. All these inflammatory markers pose an increased risk for the most common heart problem called cardiovascular disease.
New Insight Into Daily Stresses On Heart Health
Research at the Duke University Medical Center, supported by the National Institutes of Health, suggests that the collective effect of the daily stress of life diminishes the heart's ability to respond properly to the outside world. In the study, researchers monitored 135 patients with coronary artery disease during a 48-hour period, attaching portable electrocardiogram (ECG) machines to the volunteers to measure the electrical activity of their hearts.
Their results show that high levels of stress and negative feelings were linked to a decrease in the heart’s capacity to react to stress events. While prior studies have shown that continual stress can negatively impact the autonomic functioning over the heart, this study marks the first time detailed cardiac readings measured how negative emotions like fear, anxiety, anger or sadness reduced the autonomic system’s (over which people have no conscious control) reflexive control of heart actions. In fact, the study revealed that stress related fluctuations can have a snowballing impact.
This new understanding, the researchers said, could explain the known links between stress, fear, anxiety and heart disease. The researchers also commented that their findings emphasize the importance of stress management techniques in maintaining a healthy heart.
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Sources: Major Depressive Disorder Predicts Cardiac Events in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Psychosomatic Medicine Vol 50, Issue 6 627-633 Depression, the Autonomic Nervous System, and Coronary Heart Disease Psychosomatic Medicine 67:S29-S33 (2005) Clinical Depression and Regulation of the Inflammatory Response During Acute Stress Psychosomatic Medicine 67:679-687 (2005)
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