Stress can cause a heart attack, sudden cardiac death, heart failure, or arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) in persons who may not even know they have heart disease.
The Effect of Anxiety on the Heart
Rapid heart rate (tachycardia) – In serious cases, can interfere with normal heart function and increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Increased blood pressure – If chronic, can lead to coronary disease, weakening of the heart muscle, and heart failure.
Can depression cause heart disease or heart attack? When you experience depression, anxiety or stress your heart rate and blood pressure rise, there's reduced blood flow to the heart and your body produces higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Over time, these effects can lead to heart disease.
Coronary heart disease is a significant public health issue, due to its high prevalence and mortality rate (1). A number of clinical and experimental studies indicate that strong emotions, especially negative emotions, such as hostility, anger, depression and anxiety, precipitate coronary heart disease (2,3).
About 5% of women who think they're having a heart attack are actually experiencing stress-induced cardiomyopathy. Still, true heart attacks are more common than takotsubo cardiomyopathy: only about 2% of people presenting at hospitals for symptoms of a heart attack actually have takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Stress cardiomyopathy symptoms include sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, fast heart beats, and dizziness. Up to 30% of people who experience this condition are unaware of what triggered their symptoms.
Losing your temper can trigger a heart attack – even as long as two hours after the anger has subsided, researchers have warned.
The most common conditions that can lead to heart failure are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and previous heart attack. If you've been diagnosed with one of these conditions, it's critical that you manage it carefully to help prevent the onset of heart failure.
Coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease and the most common cause of heart failure. The disease results from the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries, which reduces blood flow and can lead to heart attack. A heart attack occurs suddenly when a coronary artery becomes completely blocked.
Crying Lowers Blood Pressure
Crying has been found to lower blood pressure and pulse rate immediately following therapy sessions during which patients cried and vented. High blood pressure can damage the heart and blood vessels and contribute to stroke, heart failure and even dementia.
Patients with physical stressors have a worse prognosis due to neurologic events, like a stroke. Since the heart muscle is not permanently damaged, most patients with broken heart syndrome continue to live healthy lives.
The answer is, it depends. CHF is a chronic condition that gradually worsens over time for many patients, although some cases may be reversed with timely treatment and healthy lifestyle choices. In general, heart disease is more likely to be reversed when it is identified early and promptly addressed.
Heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get gradually worse over time. It cannot usually be cured, but the symptoms can often be controlled for many years.
Some symptoms of anxiety, like chest pain, even mimic those of cardiovascular disease. Other symptoms include: Rapid heart rate – Frequent tachycardia, or rapid heart rate, can interfere with normal heart function and overtime increase the risk of heart attack, especially in patients with cardiovascular disease.
The difference is that, when extra heartbeats in the upper and lower chambers are the cause of abnormal rhythm, symptoms may feel like an initial skip or hard thumping beat followed by a racing heart. When anxiety is the trigger, heart rate typically increases steadily rather than suddenly.
This study contributes to the extensive literature showing that stress and anger affect clinical outcomes for patients with heart disease, adding chronic heart failure to the list that includes ischemic heart disease (narrowed arteries) and arrhythmic disease."
All of the lifestyle factors that increase your risk of heart attack and stroke – smoking, being overweight, eating foods high in fat and cholesterol and physical inactivity – can also contribute to heart failure.
Actually, heart failure means that the heart isn't pumping as well as it should be. Congestive heart failure is a type of heart failure that requires seeking timely medical attention, although sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably.
The progress of heart failure is unpredictable and different for each person. In many cases, the symptoms remain at a stable level for quite some time (months or years) before becoming worse. In some cases the severity and symptoms become gradually worse over time.
The combination of unmanaged anger and hostility can be dangerous for your heart health. Anger is a normal response to a heart attack. But if you experience too much anger (for example, talking loudly, shouting, insulting, throwing things, becoming physically violent) it can damage your cardiac health.
“Anger causes a flood of adrenaline, preparing your body for danger by raising blood pressure, heart rate and breathing, and making blood more likely to clot,” said Jeremy Warner, DO, from Samaritan Cardiology – Corvallis. “This can weaken artery walls and raise the risk for heart disease.”
Cognitive impairment is a very frequent comorbidity in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). Over 40% of HF patients exhibit signs and symptoms of memory impairment, concentration difficulties, and attention deficits. Importantly, cognitive dysfunction in HF is associated with poor prognosis.