Psychological stress such as traumatic experiences and financial problems are threats to women's cardiac health, research says.
Distressing life events like death of a significant other, presence or diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, as well as economic struggles put women at higher risk of having heart problems, as per Science Daily.
A new research presented at the Quality of Care and Outcomes research 2015 Scientific Sessions revealed that in middle-aged and older women, the chance of having heart attacks is 65 percent higher. Notable cause is stress secondary to death of a loved one or a severe illness.
Stress is generally considered a strong factor associated with heart diseases; however, the researchers figured out the types of stress that put a considerable impact on cardiac health in women.
They compared women who had heart attacks to those who had not and the investigators found out that a history of economic struggle was associated with higher risks for heart attack, aside from traumatic life events.
According to Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease (NURTURE Center) director Michelle Albert, it is essential to assess the relationship of traumatic events and financial struggles in middle-aged and older women since the age group is susceptible to heart ailments and are likely to live longer with disability.
Albert's findings are based on the National Women's Health study, which involved 26,783 participants with the average age of 56 years.
The participants were asked about information on negative life events including issues such as marital, employment, legal, and socio-economic. The questions also involved death of a significant other or life-threatening injuries or illnesses.
The investigators followed-up the respondents for an average of nine years. Also, 267 women who had a history of heart problems and 281 women of the same age who smoked were compared by the researchers.
Albert also said that acute psychological stress decreases the blood flow to the heart and leads to increased inflammation and cortisol levels. Overall, however, the relationship between gender, heart ailment, and mental factors remain difficult to comprehend.
An estimated 17.1 million people die from cardiovascular diseases each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A considerable portion of these deaths is associated with tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet. Also, the risk becomes greater as people age and it is higher in women than in men.
The WHO aims to decrease the mortality and morbidity rates of having cardiovascular diseases through its program called WHO programme on Cardiovascular Diseases, which aims to effectively decrease risk factors, develop cost effective and equitable healthcare innovations, and monitor trends of the disease as well as its risk factors.