[NakedScientist (OP)]

Sensible people who go to bed by half past ten may have no fun, but they may be less likely to get heart disease than the rest of us. According to a study of American nurses (Archives of Internal Medicine 2003;163:205-9), if you stay up late partying or working every night, your risk of heart disease increases by 39%. Between 7 and 9 hours sleep a night seems to be about right.

[chris]

This press-release just came in courtesy of Newswise :

Stress may be the most significant inherited risk factor in people who develop heart disease at a young age, according to a first-of-its-kind study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital. Stress also appears to have a greater impact on men than women.

"The inherited nature of early heart disease may be largely due to the family transmission of psychosocial and emotional distress, and specifically anger in males," says lead author Mark W. Ketterer, Ph.D., with Henry Ford Hospital's Department of Behavioral Health.

Based on these results, Dr. Ketterer recommends that clinicians who treat patients -- especially male patients -- for early onset heart disease consider having them evaluated by a psychiatric or behavioral professional. Treating emotional distress has been shown to be an effective way to decrease morbidity and mortality from heart disease.

Dr. Ketterer will present his study March 6 at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Phoenix, Ariz.

One hundred men and women with documented heart disease were asked about a family history of early heart disease and their age of first diagnosis. They also were evaluated for traditional cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and excessive body weight.

The men and women completed a 58-item stress symptom checklist that asked about the frequency of symptoms of stress, including aggravation, irritation, anger and impatience, depression, anxiety and worry. The test provided two parallel versions of the same questionnaire -- one to be completed by the cardiac patient and one for a spouse, family member or friend to complete about the patient.

"Because men often are in denial about emotional stress, it's imperative that we gather another perspective on their level of stress," says Dr. Ketterer.

Among the study's findings were:

Family history of heart disease had a greater impact on men than women. The average age of heart disease diagnosis was 12 years earlier for men with a positive family history of early heart disease compared to those without such a history. For women, the average age of heart diagnosis was two years earlier.

None of the traditional risk factors for heart disease -- high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, excessive body weight --was significantly different for those with a family history of early heart disease, when compared to those who did not have a family history of early onset.

Men with a family history of early heart disease had significantly higher stress symptom scores than men with no family history of early heart disease. Most of the relationship between a family history of early heart disease, and a personal history of early diagnosis was explained by anger ratings for the males as reported by spouses or friends. This implies that the propensity for anger is what is inherited and increases the risk of early heart disease.

"Depression and stress are known risk factors for heart disease, and they both have strong heritibility," says Dr. Ketterer. "None of the other risk factors, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes, were shown to have a significant familial link in this group.

"Therefore, it's likely that men who have an early onset of heart disease might have a genetic predisposition to stress, which causes the heart disease."

As part of its cardiac rehabilitation program, the Henry Ford Heart & Vascular Institute employs an aggressive behavior modification program that cover topics such as healthy communication, assertiveness training, behavior modification, relaxation techniques and coping strategies. The program has been shown to help heart patients reduce their stress level and also reduce their incidence of chest pain -- a leading indicator of heart disease.

[Chrissy]

Hi, I have always wondered about how stress affects heart disease.  I have idiopathic cardiomyopathy but I suffered post traumatic stress disorder.  I was a police woman for ten years etc.  I am not psychologically ill at the moment and feel great, but got this cardiomyopathy from nowhere it would seem.  Interesting to find a connection to stress.
Chrissy

[NakedScientist (OP)]

Hi Chrissy

I too, being in medicine and working very stressful hours, am concerned about the threat of placing my health in jeopardy by working under extreme stress in the name of 'caring' for others.

We did a piece a few years ago about the long-lasting impact of stress on the heart and blood vessels :

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/html/shows/2000.11.26.htm (see under full length text at the bottom of the page)

in which volunteers were falsely accused of shoplifting and had to defend themselves verbally. The study found that in the volunteers the lining of their blood vessels called the endothelium, which normally produces factors which causes arteries to relax and open up, stopped working properly for many hours afterwards, elevating blood pressure.

The researchers concluded that he increased sheer-stress inflicted on the blood vessels during the period when the endothelium works less effectively following episodes of stress could damage arteries leading to the deposition of the fatty deposits known as atheroma that cause heart disease.

One other way in which stress might be linked specifically to cardiomyopathy, the subject of your question, is if it causes someone to turn to alcohol to help them cope. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy is the degeneration of heart muscle due to prolonged and heavy drinking.

TNS

[Ray hinton]

I had a heart attack last year,5/12/05, this was caused by the stress of good living,a piece of cholesterol broke away and got wedged in my artery feeding the left side of my heart,causing a trivial MI, it dont half ruin your day stopped me smoking,cant be bad.

every village has one !

[neilep]

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that you'd revived this ancient thread !!

Ray..did it hurt ?..did you collapse ?...do you have ongoing treatment now ?

Neil

Ps: Glad you're better !

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[Ray hinton]

Neil
there was this fat bird once when she got on top-------
its a wierd feeling both arm tingle then its just a massive crushing feeling.
i didnt actually collapse,i obviously had to sit down, i look after my 2 year old daughter so my only thought was to get mum home,i had no concern for myself as i thought i wasnt going to make it.
i have no serious damage,just a bit of sluggish muscle on the left side of my heart,as soon as the pain went i felt fine,as if nothing had happened,it has affected my wife more,she is worried i do too much.
hope i havent bored you to death, you did ask.

every village has one !

[neilep]

quote:Originally posted by Ray hinton

Neil
there was this fat bird once when she got on top-------
its a wierd feeling both arm tingle then its just a massive crushing feeling.
i didnt actually collapse,i obviously had to sit down, i look after my 2 year old daughter so my only thought was to get mum home,i had no concern for myself as i thought i wasnt going to make it.
i have no serious damage,just a bit of sluggish muscle on the left side of my heart,as soon as the pain went i felt fine,as if nothing had happened,it has affected my wife more,she is worried i do too much.
hope i havent bored you to death, you did ask.

every village has one !

Nope *yawn*...still here...taps fingers........ looks around room.....hums a symphony*..............[]



Not boring at all Ray. I am genuinely interested. Cheers for answering....the sysmptoms were just right !....well....not right for you obviously ![:I]...sorry...glad you're ok.[]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[Ray hinton]

hi neil
i take seven diferent pills now,the good thing is im back to work next week.
you are right about symptoms,i knew what was going on, all down to too much tv,you know all the doctor programs, nurses in little short dresses giving bed baths....aaaaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhh not another bugger, i wasnt laughing on the 5dec, kinda worried about the wife and nipper.

every village has one !

[deb-t]

I too had a heart attack last week.  It was stress related.  Looking for any info on how to decrease the stress in my life.  Am requesting my dr. to increase my anti-anxiety meds, and hope that this works.  I can't see that my stressing factors will change, I just need to manage it better.  I am very luck that I do not have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or any permanent heart damage.  I keep worrying that I am going to have another heart attack and keep thinking that I have "the symptoms" - which I actually did not have last week when I had the heart attack.

Thanks for any insight.
[]

deb-t

[venusww]

I am working as a Cardiologist in Sialkot Medical complex. We often find patients, who have no other risk factor for heart disease like HTN, Diabetes, Hypercholestrolemia, smoking etc, but they are in stress for one or the other reason. Now studies have proved clinically as stress to be included as risk factor for CHD. Coronary Heart Disease.
Dr. Armughan


newbielink:http://www.highbloodpressuremed.com [nonactive]

[neilep]

quote:Originally posted by venusww

I am working as a Cardiologist in Sialkot Medical complex. We often find patients, who have no other risk factor for heart disease like HTN, Diabetes, Hypercholestrolemia, smoking etc, but they are in stress for one or the other reason. Now studies have proved clinically as stress to be included as risk factor for CHD. Coronary Heart Disease.
Dr. Armughan


http://www.highbloodpressuremed.com [Links inactive - To make links active and clickable, login or click here to register]

Dr. Armughan, Thank you for your valuable input.

Do you agree that people who stay up late increase their chances of a heart attack ?

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[moonfire]

Oh boy!  This is not a good sign for me now...whew!  I think I do good when I get 4hours of sleep a night...I am up too much...very good information.  I am glad I gave up smoking 10yrs ago and not drinking too much now...just occassionally lately.  :-(  No more Vin!  I swear it off after this trip!

"Lo" Loretta

[brijendrav]

Alistrol is one of the most highly respected natural remedy to lower newbielink:http://htp://www.alistrol.com [nonactive] and has well-known cardio-protective properties. Alistrol's ingredients dilate blood vessels by blocking the action of a blood-constricting enzyme called ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme).
for more information visit newbielink:http://www.alistrol.com [nonactive]

[that mad man]

About the amount of sleep needed, from the webmentorlibrary.com and abridged a bit by me.

"There is a popular idea that we all need 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. This is not true.
Many studies have shown that people have a range between 4 hours a night to 10 hours or more. Also the amount of sleep needed varies throughout ones life. For example a newborn spends 16-17 hours sleeping per day, and as they grow older they require less sleep, possibly 11 hours around the age of 5 and maybe 8-9 hours as a teenager. By the time you reach 30 you may require less than 8 hours, and as time progresses this becomes less and less. Many people in their 70's require less than 6 hours sleep.

Not only does the need to sleep vary with age it also depend on the level of activity. A less active person may need less sleep than someone constantly on the go."

Summary

"Do

go to bed and get up at a regular time.
have a bedtime routine.
get up if you are worrying, or are not asleep after 30 minutes, and do something relaxing.
get some exercise regularly, but not late at night.
remember that sleep patterns change throughout our life cycle and the lack of sleep won't harm you.
make sure your bedroom and bed are comfortable, not too warm, noisy or bright.
check whether any medicines taken may be affecting sleep.

Don't

worry about not getting enough sleep.
lie in bed worrying about other problems.
use your bed for things other than sleep. (this on baffles me!)
eat or drink caffeine close to bedtime.
drink alcohol close to bedtime.
go to bed if not sleepy.
nap during the day.
stay in bed longer to catch up on missed sleep."

This is from a 7 page guide and was written by Lesley Maunders and Lorna Cameron, Northumberland Dept of Psychological Services and Research, Newcastle, North Tyneside & Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust, St Georges Hospital. (revised March 2006)

The page states: Please ignore any copyright notice that may be automatically generated. Copyright is with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust. So, I hope it fine to write this.


The main thing it seems is not to worry if you cant get to sleep as that will also cause stress and sleep problems.

Hope that may help some.

Perhaps this should have been put in the insomnia support groups, so mod's please move it if you want.