As stressors on daily lives here in Syracuse increase all of the time there are often concerns about reports of an association between chronic stress and heart attacks. However, without direct evidence to confirm this association there is often more resistance than anticipated towards an acceptance of this association. Now an article in Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com, titled "Hair Provides Proof of the Link Between Chronic Stress and Heart Attack" reports that there is direct evidence to show that chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. In this article researchers from The University of Western Ontario are reported to have provided evidence of this link between chronic stress and heart attacks with a biological marker.
Stressors dealing with job, marital and financial problems have been linked to the increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease including heart attacks. However, there has not been a biological marker to measure chronic stress. Now Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum have developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack.
Cortisol is known to be a stress hormone. The secretion of cortisol is increased during times of stress. Traditionally cortisol has been measured in serum, urine and saliva, but that only shows stress at the time of measurement, not over longer periods of time. Cortisol can also be captured in the hair shaft. Dr. Koren has said "Intuitively we know stress is not good for you, but it's not easy to measure. We know that on average, hair grows one centimetre (cm) a month, and so if we take a hair sample six cm long, we can determine stress levels for six months by measuring the cortisol level in the hair."
In this study, hair samples three cm long were collected from 56 male adults who were admitted to the hospital who were suffering heart attacks. A control group, which was made up of 56 male patients who were hospitalized for reasons other than a heart attack, was also asked for hair samples. Higher hair cortisol levels corresponding to the previous three months were found in the heart attack patients as compared to the control group.
The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, smoking and family history of coronary artery disease did not differ significantly between the two groups in this study, although the heart attack group had more cholesterol problems. Hair cortisol content emerged as the strongest predictor of heart attack after accounting for the known risk factors. Dr Koren has said "Stress is a serious part of modern life affecting many areas of health and life. This study has implications for research and for practice, as stress can be managed with lifestyle changes and psychotherapy."
This research has been published in Stress The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, http://informahealthcare.com/loi/sts, under the title of "Hair cortisol and the risk for acute myocardial infarction in adult men" by David Pereg, Rachel Gow, Morris Mosseri, Michael Lishner, Michael Rieder, Stan Van Uum, and Gideon Koren.
And so with the direct evidence from this study confirming that there is a link between chronic stress and heart attacks people here in Syracuse can feel secure in knowing they are acting in the best interests of their cardiovascular health when they desire less stress and more time to relax in their daily lives.
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
Comments