Stress Archive

Research we're watching

Doctors have long known that mental or psychological stress can lead to angina (chest pain or discomfort caused by inadequate blood to the heart). Now, new research reveals a direct correlation between angina and stress-related activity in the brain's frontal lobe. The study included 148 people with coronary artery disease with an average age of 62. All underwent brain and heart imaging tests done in conjunction with mental stress testing, which involved mental arithmetic and public speaking. Imaging tests were also done under "control" conditions, which featured simple counting and recalling a neutral event. Researchers monitored the participants for angina during the tests; they also assessed angina rates again after two years.

Activity in the inferior frontal lobe area of the brain during mental stress was linked to the severity of self-reported angina, both during the brain imaging and at the two-year follow-up. A better understanding of how the brain reacts to stress may be an important consideration for doctors who treat angina, according to the study's lead author. The study was published online Aug. 10, 2020, by the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.

Prediabetes is a common condition, and often goes undetected. People with this condition have a number of health risks, including a greater chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke. In addition, they are more likely to develop diabetes, which can lead to additional health problems, such as kidney disease and a higher rate of infection. Testing for prediabetes can find the condition early and potentially prevent it from progressing to diabetes.

Doctors have begun to study the effects of COVID-related stress and anxiety on people. A recent study suggests that stress caused by the pandemic may already be affecting heart health.

Put the focus on food quality and healthy lifestyle practices to attain a healthy weight.

Most people have been taught that losing weight is a matter of simple math. Cut calories — specifically 3,500 calories, and you'll lose a pound. But as it turns out, experts are learning that this decades-old strategy is actually pretty misguided.

"This idea of 'a calorie in and a calorie out' when it comes to weight loss is not only antiquated, it's just wrong," says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity specialist and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

People who regularly worried about the future and dwelled on the past saw larger drops in cognition and had more harmful brain proteins than those who didn't.

Chronic worrying or ruminating could be bad for your brain. A study published online June 7, 2020, by Alzheimer's & Dementia linked these negative thinking patterns to brain changes that could be associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Study authors found that older adults who regularly engaged in what the authors called repetitive negative thinking were more likely to experience cognitive decline, including memory problems, than those who didn't. They also had higher levels of the proteins beta-amyloid and tau in their brains. The accumulation of these proteins, which create damaging clumps known as plaques and tangles in the brain, is a hallmark of Alzheimer's that begins in the earliest stages of the disease — even before an individual experiences visible symptoms of dementia.

It's common for indigestion to become more frequent and severe with age, a condition called chronic dyspepsia or recurring indigestion. While most flare-ups can be treated with over-the-counter remedies, people can stop recurring problems by adopting lifestyle measures, such as reducing stress, avoiding excess alcohol, quitting smoking, losing extra weight, and eating smaller meals.

Shifting your thinking and practicing deep breathing can help when you're stuck in an intense emotional moment.

At some point, we've all gotten stuck in a "meltdown" moment — an overwhelming feeling of anger or stress that was difficult to shake off. "Feeling overwhelmed makes it harder to identify ways to get unstuck; the options seem limited, which can create a sense of hopelessness or despair. Additionally, negative memories may come to mind more readily, and we may filter out useful ways of viewing the situation at hand," says Abby Altman, an associate psychologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

But there are ways to shift your focus and break out of extremely emotional moments. Take note of the following tips so you can put them to work if a meltdown strikes.

Research we're watching

People with chronic pain may be more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those without chronic pain, according to a study published online May 7, 2020, by the journal Pain Medicine.

From 2001 to 2005, researchers identified 17,614 Taiwanese people who had used pain relievers for at least three months. The most common causes of pain were spinal disorders, arthritis, and headaches; the pain relievers included both over-the-counter drugs and prescription opioids. For the comparison group, researchers used 35,228 people without chronic pain who were matched by age and sex to those in the first group.

If you have experienced a heart attack or undergone a heart procedure, don't neglect your mental health during recovery.

Recovery from a heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty, or heart surgery — what doctors call heart events — can be stressful. Depending on your condition, it may also involve cardiac rehabilitation. This medically supervised program focuses on exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes. While the primary focus is to help you physically, you also need to address your mental and emotional health.

"It's normal to have some anxiety and stress after a heart attack or heart surgery," says Dr. Christopher Celano, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "But how long these feelings linger, and whether they are also associated with symptoms of depression, can affect your rehab recovery success and potentially increase your risk of future problems."