STRESS AND HEART DISEASE

Stress is also seen to play a part in diseases related to lifestyle, where  the degree to which a person eats, smokes, drinks alcohol, and  exercises plays a role. High blood pressure (hypertension) and heart  disease are accepted now as having a proven link to stress. Hypertension has in most cases no obvious organic basis-it simply sets in. A majority of patients are diagnosed with "essential hypertension," meaning that the condition does not arise from any medically detectable abnormality. Although other factors, such as diet, obesity, and smoking, surely play a role, many researchers now believe that stress is the primary cause of hypertension. The connection, as Melhuish (1978) indicates, is that hypertension is believed to result partially from changes in the resistance of blood vessels. The diameter of the arterial vessels, which carry blood to the tissues, is partly controlled by the sympathetic nervous system and its release of chemicals through the vessels. Continual activation of the sympathetic nervous system's chemical response is believed to result in reduced elasticity of the arteries and raised blood pressure. This resulting hypertension can lead to heart disease because of the increased workload on the heart as it pushes blood out against a high arterial back pressure. Also, high blood pressure increases the likelihood of a possibly fatal ruptured artery; the rupture of a ves sel in the brain can cause stroke. Chronic stress, and its resulting release of fats into the blood stream during the fight-or-flight response, is also believed to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by fatty deposition in the lining of coronary arteries, which carry oxygen to the heart muscle. Carruthers (1976) highlights the combination of factors that can result in a life-threatening crisis.