Negative emotions may all be in your head—as a life-threatening blood
clot, that is. "Fifty years ago, people didn't consider psychiatric
illness a medical illness," says Shyam Prabhakaran, M.D., head of
cerebrovascular disease and neurocritical care at Rush University
Medical Center. "Now we're realizing how interwoven emotions and
pathology are."
STRESS
Calm down, before you clot. "Ask doctors the risk factors for stroke,
and they'll list blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease," says Howard
Kirshner, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Stroke Center. "Ask a stroke
victim, and they'll say stress." Uncontrolled stress can set you up for a
brainclogging clot by raising blood pressure and making blood stickier.
The key: Take control of your stress, and don't stroke out.
AGGRESSION
In a recent National Institute on Aging study, people who were
antagonistic—in particular, manipulative or aggressive—had thicker
carotid arteries than their easygoing counterparts. This normally takes
years to develop, but even young aggressors showed thickening. "If
severe enough, this can choke bloodflow to the brain, depriving it of
oxygen," says Dr. Prabhakaran. "Cells in the brain die, and that's a
stroke."
LONELINESS
Loneliness may literally hurt your heart. A 4-year study of lonely
adults conducted at the University of Chicago found that the loneliest
folks experienced a 3.6-millimeter increase in systolic blood pressure
every year, independent of BMI, smoking, or exercise habits. The likely
reason: Loneliness is linked to higher levels of the stress hormone
cortisol, which causes blood pressure— and stroke risk—to rise.
MARITAL DISCONTENT
"One" may not be the only lonely number. Men in fractured marriages have
a 64 percent higher risk of fatal stroke than those living in wedded
bliss, a 2010 American Stroke Association study found.
"If you're unhappily married, you may feel alone even though you're not
socially isolated," says Dr. Prabhakaran. "It may follow the same
physiological pathway as loneliness."
No comments:
Post a Comment