Men who tend to worry and suffer from anxiety have a higher risk of developing heart disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes.
- Every year, 25% of the population suffer from depression or anxiety. A figure that has risen sharply since the Covid-19 crisis.
- According to a recent WHO study, cases of depression and anxiety have jumped by 25% since the start of 2020.
Even young or middle-aged men with a tendency to worry are not immune to developing cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
This is highlighted by a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. According to its authors, who followed more than 1,500 white men between the ages of 33 and 65, anxious men may have a higher biological risk of developing what is called cardiometabolic syndrome as they age. Cardiometabolic syndrome defines the overall risk of developing cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.
According to Dr. Lewina Lee, lead author of the study, these associations between anxiety and cardiometabolic syndrome “may be present much earlier in life than is generally appreciated – potentially during childhood or young adulthood”.
Anxious men, first concerned
To further investigate this relationship between anxiety and cardiometabolic disease risk factors over time, the researchers used data from the Normative Aging Study, a longitudinal study in which 1,561 men (97% white) participated in Boston. in 1961, and who were on average 53 years old in 1975. None suffered from cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study, and all completed a personality questionnaire to assess their level of neuroticism and worry. They also submitted to physical examinations and blood tests every 3 to 5 years until their death.
The results show that between ages 33 and 65, the average number of high cardiometabolic risk factors increased by about one per decade, reaching an average of 3.8 risk factors at age 65. In addition, participants with high levels of neuroticism had a greater number of elevated cardiometabolic risk factors, regardless of age. A high level of neuroticism is associated with a 13% higher likelihood of having six or more cardiometabolic disease risk factors, and a high level of anxiety is associated with a 10% increased likelihood.
A cardiometabolic risk that increases with age
“We found that the risk of cardiometabolic disease increased as men aged from their 30s to their 40s, regardless of anxiety level, whereas men who had high levels of anxiety and worry consistently had a higher likelihood of developing cardiometabolic disease over time than those who had lower levels of anxiety or worry”sums up Professor Lee.
However, the data do not allow us to know whether treating anxiety could reduce cardiometabolic risk. Nevertheless, “Anxious and worry-prone people should pay more attention to their cardiometabolic health. For example, by getting routine health checkups and being proactive in managing their risk levels for cardiometabolic disease (such as taking blood pressure medication and maintaining a healthy weight), they may be able to decrease their likelihood of developing cardiometabolic disease.”concludes the researcher.
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