Horrible bosses really ARE bad for your health: Chronic stress can lead to heart disease and diabetes, experts warn

Working for a difficult boss can come with stress, long hours and a poor office atmosphere. But new research has found it can also be bad for your health. The stress of working for a bad boss over a long period of time can cause serious harm to employees, the study found. The researchers found that chronic stress causes changes in the gene activity in immune cells. These changes cause the cells to be primed to fight an infection that doesn't exist. This leads to inflammation in the body which is associated with many health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. Scientists at Ohio State University made this discovery while studying mice. Their colleagues at other institutions also tested blood samples from people living in poor areas and found that similarly primed immune cells were present in these chronically stressed people. "The cells share many of the same characteristics in terms of their response to stress," said Dr John Sheridan, associate director of Ohio State University's Institute for Behavioural Medicine Research, and co-lead author of the study. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Stress and artery health studied

"Stress really does increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes," reported the Daily Mail (UK). It said research has found that people who become stressed are more likely to suffer from hardened arteries. This study measured volunteers' levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, while they carried out tests aimed at raising their stress levels. It found that people who had increased cortisol levels were more likely to have high calcium deposits in the arteries, a marker of coronary heart disease. Although high calcium deposits may indicate heart disease, this study did not directly investigate if stress increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke. A single measure of stress taken at the same time as a measure of calcium build-up in the arteries cannot show whether a person’s lifetime stress habits have caused the build-up. Although further research is needed, minimising stress is known to be associated with improved mental and physical wellbeing. This research was carried out by Dr Mark Hamer and colleagues from University College London and Wellington Hospital. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Medical Research Council. The paper was published in the peer-reviewed European Heart Journal

Stressed at work? Look out for your heart

People who have highly demanding jobs and little freedom to make decisions are 23 per cent more likely to have a heart attack compared with their less stressed out colleagues, according to research recently published. But lighting up a cigarette or remaining chained to your desk rather than getting out to do some exercise is far more damaging for your heart health, researchers said. A study of nearly 200,000 people from seven European countries found around 3.4 per cent of heart attacks can be attributed to job strain - a significant proportion, but far less than the 36 per cent attributable to smoking and 12 per cent put down to lack of exercise. For the study, which was published online in The Lancet medical journal, researchers analysed job strain in employees who had no previous coronary heart disease

Being an optimist 'may protect against heart problems'

Happy, optimistic people have a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, a Harvard School of Public Health review of more than 200 studies - reported in Psychological Bulletin - suggests. While such people may be generally healthier, scientists think a sense of well-being may lower risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Stress and depression have already been linked to heart disease. The researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health trawled medical trial databases to find studies that had recorded psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. This revealed that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness appeared to be linked associated with a reduced risk of heart and circulatory diseases, regardless of a person's age, socio-economic status, smoking status or body weight. Disease risk was 50% lower among the most optimistic individuals

Job strain and heart disease risk in women

"Harvard researchers have uncovered strong links between women's job stress and cardiovascular disease. Findings from the Women's Health Study (WHS) - a landmark inquiry into disease prevention involving more than 17,000 female health professionals - show that women whose work is highly stressful have a 40% increased risk of heart disease (including heart attacks and the need for coronary artery surgery), compared with their less stressed colleagues. The results, which were presented at an American Heart Association meeting in 2010, also showed that women who worry about losing their jobs are more likely to have high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels and to be obese. These findings are especially distressing in the current economic climate. The researchers used a definition of "job strain" that combines psychological demand and degree of control. Demand refers to the amount, pace, and difficulty of the work. Control means the ability to make work-related decisions or be creative at work"

Less stress cuts cardiac events

A cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme to help people with heart disease to manage their stress levels reduces their likelihood of suffering a cardiovascular event, say researchers. Their study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that CBT might need to be continued for 6-12 months to be effective. Researchers randomised 362 men and women, who had all been hospitalised for a coronary heart disease event in the previous 12 months, to either usual care or to CBT. People in the CBT group had 20 two-hour sessions over a year, which concentrated on how to reduce, manage and cope with stress. The programme had five specific components – education, self-monitoring, skills training, cognitive restructuring and spiritual development. Groups were kept small and men and women attended separate groups from one another

Video: Stress and its impact on heart - Heart Fit Clinic, Calgary, Canada

Stress and the economy and its impact on heart health:

Walk to school, less heart risk as an adult (USA)

A morning walk or bike ride to school could reduce stress reactivity in children, which is linked to later heart risk, U.S. researchers say. Senior investigator James Roemmich, a University at Buffalo associate professor, and graduate students Maya Lambiase and Heather Barry say cardiovascular reactivity - changes in heart rate and blood pressure due to stress - is associated with the beginnings of cardiovascular disease in children and atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis, in adults, is the build-up of cholesterol, calcium, fat and other substances in artery walls. The research team had 20 boys and 20 girls - all Caucasian, ages10-14 - visit the Behavioral Medicine Research Laboratory. Half of the children sat in a comfortable chair and watched a 10-minute slide show of images of a suburban neighborhood to simulate a ride to school. The other half walked on a treadmill - while images of a suburban neighborhood were projected onto a screen - at a self-selected pace for 1 mile, wearing a book bag containing 10 percent of their body weight. The study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, finds, on average, during this activity, heart rate increased by about three beats per minute in children who walked, compared with about 11 beats per minute in children who "rode" to school - UPI

Anxiety may increase risk of heart disease

Anxiety disorders significantly increase a person's risk of developing heart disease and also raise the odds of suffering a fatal cardiac event, two new studies suggest. The first study, by Annelieke M. Roest, MSc, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, combined data from 20 studies on nearly 250,000 people. The average follow-up period was 11 years. The researchers found that anxiety was associated with a 26% increased risk of coronary heart disease and a 48% increased risk of heart-related death over the follow-up period, even after adjusting for known heart disease risk factors. The second study, by Imre Janszky, MD, PhD, of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, also found that anxiety disorders are predictive of future heart disease even after controlling for other risk factors such as blood pressure and smoking. Anxiety more than doubled the subsequent risk of developing coronary blockages or having a heart attack. They examined data on 50,000 young Swedish men evaluated for military service between ages 18 and 20, with a follow-up of about 37 years. The studies and an accompanying editorial by Joel Dimsdale, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Diego, are now online and scheduled for publication in the June 29 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Work stress can raise women's heart disease risk

"High pressure jobs like nursing can increase young women's risk of heart disease and younger women appear to be more vulnerable, scientists said. It is already known that having stressful or demanding jobs can lead to higher heart risks but previous research has largely focused on men. In this study, researchers from Denmark assessed the impact of work pressure and degree of personal influence in the workplace on the heart health of more than 12,000 nurses. The nurses were all aged between 45 and 64 in 1993, when they were questioned about daily work pressures and about how much they felt they had control over their work. Their health was then tracked for 15 years using hospital records. The results, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, showed that nurses who said their work pressures were a little too high were 25 percent more likely to develop heart disease as those who said work pressures were manageable and appropriate" - Reuters

Coping with Stress (Canada)

"Stress is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. About a quarter of Canadians report a high degree of life stress. People with excessive stress may have high-blood pressure and elevated levels of blood cholesterol and be overweight. The Heart and Stroke Foundation has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to bring you this brochure to help you cope with stress more successfully. Inside the brochure there is a Stress Index Test that will help you identify your stressors and some suggestions on how to manage them in a healthier way"

Early life stress may predict cardiovascular disease

Early life stress could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, researchers report. "We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," said Dr. Jennifer Pollock, biochemist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author on the study published online in Hypertension. The studies in a proven model of chronic behavioral stress – separating rat pups from their mother three hours daily for two weeks – showed no long-term impact on key indicators of cardiovascular disease such as increased blood pressure, heart rate or inflammation in blood vessel walls.

Stress 'can cause heart damage'

For years, stress has been linked to heart attacks and various other heart complaints but with very little medical evidence to back it up. Now, a trial by doctors at University College London has proved that people who get stressed are also likely to have silent coronary artery disease. The study involved 514 men and women, with an average age of 62. None of the participants had signs of heart disease at the time of the test. Each underwent stress tests and then the levels of the hormone cortisol in their systems were measured. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone and is produced by the body when it comes under mental or physical strain. When it is released, it causes the arteries to narrow. The participants' arteries were also scanned for any signs of an accumulation of fatty materials on the inner linings of arteries, or furring. Those people who were stressed by the tests were twice as likely to have furred arteries as those who remained calm, the study in the European Heart Journal found. Prof Avijit Lahiri, a cardiologist, said: 'This study shows a clear-cut relationship between stress and silent coronary artery disease. This is the first clear proof.'

Anger really can kill you: Study

"Anger and other strong emotions can trigger potentially deadly heart rhythms in certain vulnerable people, U.S. researchers said. Previous studies have shown that earthquakes, war or even the loss of a World Cup Soccer match can increase rates of death from sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops circulating blood. "It's definitely been shown in all different ways that when you put a whole population under a stressor that sudden death will increase," said Dr. Rachel Lampert of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "Our study starts to look at how does this really affect the electrical system of the heart," Lampert said"

Jingle Bells, Jangled Nerves

"It's as predictable as plastic reindeer, spinning dreidels, family visits, and overspending on gifts: holiday anxiety. And we shouldn't take it lightly. According to a paper published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the effects of psychological stress can weaken immune function and trigger inflammation, raising the risk of autoimmune disease, coronary artery disease, and depression"

Bottling anger at work can be deadly: Study

"Men who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work are up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one, than those who let their frustration show, a Swedish study has found. The study by the Stress Research Institutes of Stockholm University followed 2,755 employed men who had not suffered any heart attacks from 1992 to 2003. At the end of the study, 47 participants had either suffered an attack, or died from heart disease, and many of those had been found to be "covertly coping" with unfair treatment at work. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health"

Stress from debt 'costing GBP450m' (UK)

"An estimated 250,000 Londoners suffer from mental health problems as a result of debt, which is costing NHS London GBP450m a year, a campaign group said. London Health Forum said job cuts and money worries in recession resulted in 350,000 London GP appointments a year. Stress-related illnesses which could cause high blood pressure and heart attacks are also on the rise, it said. The forum urged councils and primary care trusts to "prescribe early debt advice" to Londoners. The forum's report, London Capital of Debt, said primary care trusts in London are currently spending £1.8bn a year treating patients with mental health issues, which is 26% more than the national average"

Anger does increase brain blood flow

A piece of research has shown that anger or mental stress can increase the flow of blood in the brain. Led by Tasneem Naqvi and Hahn Hyuhn from the University of Southern California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the study involved a series of ultrasound experiments. It showed that mental stress causes carotid artery dilation, and increases brain blood flow. The researchers say that that dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure. They evaluated carotid artery reactivity and brain blood flow in response to mental stress in 10 healthy young volunteers (aged between 19 and 27 years), 20 older healthy volunteers (aged 38 to 60 years) and in 28 patients with essential hypertension (aged 38 to 64 years). It was found that in healthy subjects, mental stress caused vasodilation, which was accompanied by a net increase in brain blood flow. The study has been published in BioMed Central's open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound

Middle-aged women experience more stress but have lower blood pressure (Sweden)

"Both blood pressure and serum lipid levels have improved in Swedish middle-aged women during the past 30 years. Levels of perceived mental stress, however, have increased significantly. These are the of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The study is part of the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden. This study was initiated at the end of the 1960s, when 1,462 middle-aged women were examined, and interviewed about their lifestyle and other matters. These women have subsequently been followed up into the 21st century, as well as compared with new generations of middle-aged women who have been examined at later dates, as part of the Prospective Population Study" - Science Centric

The power of music: it's a real heart opener

If you didn't catch the white coat and the stethoscope, you might take Dr. Mike Miller for a middle-aged rocker, roaming the halls of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. For years, Miller, a research cardiologist, has been studying the effects of happiness - or things that make people happy - on our hearts. He began his research with laughter, and found watching funny movies and laughing at them could actually open up blood vessels, allowing blood to circulate more freely. Miller thought, if laughter can do that, why not music? So, he tested the effects of music on the cardiovascular system. "Turns out music may be one of the best de-stressors - either by playing or even listening to music," said Miller. The setup was basically the same as with the laughter study: Using high-tech imaging, Miller measured blood vessel size as people listened to music. The results did not surprise Miller. "The inner lining of the blood vessel relaxed, opened up and produced chemicals that are protective to the heart," he said. But when participants listened to music they didn't particularly enjoy, Miller said, "the vessels actually began to close up