We suspected that stress was bad for our hearts. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston confirm this in a study published in the journal BMJ .
The work was carried out on 68,000 adults aged 35 and over, followed within the framework of the National Health Survey English for ten years. Participants’ level of stress and depression was rated on a scale of symptoms, ranging from no or mild signs to acute symptoms of depression and D’anxiety. The team of researchers then analyzed whether people who showed symptoms throughout the study were more likely to die over an eight-year period after the experience.
The researchers found that participants in this study who felt anxious or depressed, even if they only suffered from transient anxieties, increased their risk of death by 20% over the next eight years, compared to people without no of these symptoms.
Scientists have taken into account other risk factors that may be associated with stress, such as smoking or drinking, but also lack of exercise, weight gain, high blood pressure and diabetes. And the link between cardiovascular disease and stress remained unchanged regardless of its parameters.
To live longer, the best solution is to limit any source of stress. Several methods are available to us: 20 minutes of yoga per day, mindfulness, make love, sleep well… What if we already started smiling at life? An American study published in the journal Psychological Science has shown that smiling lowers heart rate and would help fight against stress.
