Health Anxiety May Increase Risk of Heart Disease, Research Finds (theguardian.com) 36
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Fit and healthy people who worry about developing an illness may be increasing their risk of heart disease by unnecessarily fretting over their health, research suggests. A study of more than 7,000 people over 12 years found that those with health anxiety at the start of the study were about 70% more likely to develop heart disease than those without that state of mind. Additionally, the researchers found that the higher the reported anxiety, the higher the risk of heart disease. The findings, published in BMJ Open on Thursday, suggest that far from health anxiety protecting people from heart disease through increased monitoring and frequency of checkups, it may have the opposite effect. The study analyzed 7,052 participants in the long-term collaborative research project Norwegian Hordaland health study, all of whom were born between 1953 and 1957. They filled in questionnaires about their health, lifestyle and educational attainment and had a physical checkup between 1997 and 1999. Levels of health anxiety were assessed using a validated scale and the top 10% of the sample -- 710 people -- were considered to have health anxiety. The heart health of all the participants was tracked up to the end of 2009. Anyone who received treatment for, or whose death was linked to, coronary artery disease occurring within a year of entering the study, was excluded on the grounds that they might already have been ill. In all, 234 (3.3%) of the entire sample had an ischemic event -- a heart attack or bout of acute angina -- during the monitoring period. But the proportion of those succumbing to heart disease was twice as high (just over 6%) among those who displayed health anxiety compared with those who did not (3%). After taking account of other potentially influential factors, those with health anxiety at the start of the study were found to be 73% more likely to develop heart disease than those who did not have anxiety at the outset.
Break through study: stress causes health problems (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
You may be right, but it may not be as obvious as that. It may be a different kind of obvious, with the causation the other way around.
Instead of stress causing illness (which we already know), this could also be explained by people who are ill being anxious about their health. It may well be that people with ailments may well have aches, pains, tiredness, etc that all fly below the radar of a doctor diagnosing a disease, but add up to enough for a person to generally have a feeling that there's something
Hey thanks a lot! (Score:1)
Now someone is worrying about their health because of this article.
Re: (Score:2)
I believe it is called "meta-stress", but don't worry about that, or you will hit a singularity and have your head explode.
it is I (Score:2)
Wow! (Score:2)
Or maybe (Score:2)
Everyone ages, and genetics trumps all.
And unless you are at the fringes, you are gonna die when you are gonna die, and not much can be done about it.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
I'm fat, I know I'm fat (Score:2)
My only issue is my cat. She has food for a week, water for 2 weeks, I like to think if something bad happens that's good enough. Assuming she learns to drink from the toi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
This, too, will pass.
Your cat will be fine, whether or not it dies a bit earlier than it otherwise would have.
The only problem, here, is that you are depressed. Sounds like you are spiraling down the serotonin gradient because your life lacks purpose (just a guess, based on what little you have revealed).
News flash: everybody's life lacks purpose. Or rather, some people make a big show of their short-term purposes and how fulfilling they are (which they really aren't, because all purposes are arbitrary an
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently you think a hobby is not a part of a purpose.
You don't have to have a grand purpose, but the satisfaction of doing something well helps.
Anytime I hear phrases like "illusion of self", I know I'm in the presence of someone who wants to destroy.
So now we have to worry about worrying? (Score:2)
Interesting (Score:3)
I wonder how they accounted for any correlation between people with known risk factors for heart disease being more worried about heart disease? For example, an overweight smoker with a stressful life and a family history of heart disease would be quite likely to both worry* about heart disease and end up suffering from it.
* yes, lots of time people will substitute "doing something about it" with "worrying"
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
They filled in questionnaires about their health, lifestyle and educational attainment and had a physical checkup between 1997 and 1999.
They did examine the subjects at the start of the study, and assessed their level of "health anxiety". The goal was to determine if people who worry about their health have more heart problems, all other things being equal - and the answer was yes.
The next question is whether that stress causes heart problems or whether the subjects had some kind of premonition based on what they knew or what their body was telling them. The important finding is that a higher level of health anxiety is a symptom itsel
anxiety redux. (Score:1)
Thanks, now i'm got another thing to worry about!! :(
I wonder .... (Score:2)
" those with health anxiety at the start of the study were about 70% more likely to develop heart disease than those without that state of mind."
Perhaps their heart/circulation system told them something to worry about.
It's obvious but... (Score:2)
It's completely obvious but in order to get certain oblivious policy makers to pay attention, you need a real study with real scientific data. If we didn't do things like this, America would continue moving towards being a first world country that is a third world sweatshop with an abysmal quality of life (see OECD) just so the rich elite can get more rich at your expense by throwing average citizens into a metaphorical meat grinder.
The double standard is remarkable though. We just the US Chamber of Comme
What? Me worry? (Score:2)
Alfred E. Neuman hasn't aged a bit in over 60 years.