Stressed brain, stressed heart?

Abstract

In the past decade, more and more individuals experience psychosocial stress on a daily basis. Heavy workloads, job insecurity, or living in poverty are circumstances that can result in chronically increased stress, which in turn can lead to chronic psychological disorders such as depression. Besides the heavy psychological burden, chronic stress is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.1,2 Individuals with increased stress perception have a substantially higher prevalence of myocardial infarction than controls, as was reported by Rosengren and colleagues in 2004.