A link between emotional stress and heart attacks
By Nathan Seppa
The biological events linking emotional stress and heart attack are poorly understood. Researchers now find that in some people with heart disease, a stressful event precipitates changes in blood components and flow that may trigger a heart attack.
Scientists identified 34 men who had recovered from heart attacks that occurred an average of 15 months earlier. Fourteen had experienced emotional stress, such as arguments with neighbors or sadness about a sick or deceased relative, less than 2 hours before their heart attacks, says Andrew Steptoe, a psychologist at University College London. The other 20 men reported no such stress just before their heart attacks.