Voice-over:
Every day, thousands of patients with cardiovascular disease take to the treadmill for an exercise stress test, which cardiologists use to evaluate heart health.
Voice-over:
Now a University of Florida study reveals that mental stress may evoke its own set of burdens on the heart and arteries, even in patients whose circulatory system responds normally to exercise. Chronic anxiety, depression or anger are widely recognized as raising the risk of heart attack, hospitalization or sudden death in patients whose hearts suffer dangerous decreases in blood flow during exercise testing, a phenomenon known as ischemia [iss-scheme-ee-uh]. Even something as simple as public speaking, doing mental arithmetic or recounting an argument with a loved one can trigger a problem. But until now, patients who trod the treadmill without experiencing chest pain or restricted blood flow had never been similarly scrutinized when it came to mental stress. Yet what goes on in their heads could have consequences for their hearts as well.
Dr. David Sheps / UF cardiologist:
“So basically what we’ve shown is that there’s a new population of patients if you will with heart disease that do have adverse effects with mental stress who may not have adverse effects with exercise stress.”
Voice-over:
U-F doctors asked patients whose treadmill tests didn’t restrict blood flow to the heart to perform a public speaking task that involved roleplaying an interpersonal confrontation.
It turned out the resulting mental stress caused reduced blood flow in one-third of the study subjects. Researchers have launched a larger, multiyear study of patients to determine just how widespread the problem is, and whether it’s linked to cardiac complications such as heart attack down the road.
Dr. David Sheps / UF cardiologist:
“We believe that the phenomenon of mental stress-induced ischemia is much more common than has been previously recognized and it remains to be seen whether it will be associated with adverse outcomes in a wider group of patients or not.”
Voice-over:
At the University of Florida Health Science Center, I’m Mike Garrison
