We have known for a long time that even minor stress is bad for our heart and that it goes as far as reducing by 20%. our life expectancy. But this time, researchers at Harvard School of Medicine (United States) have finally discovered the biological link between chronic stress and heart attack. Stress triggers our “fighting mechanism” which is to send an adrenaline rush to the heart to increase blood flow and allow the body to fight or run when it perceives a threat.
But at the same time, this same stress sends signals to our immune system which then increases the production of white blood cells. Unfortunately, this regular influx of leukocytes causes inflammation of the arteries which can be formidable if the arteries are already partially blocked (called atherosclerosis).
This is because when damaged arteries have to deal with inflammation, it can cause damage and release clots in the blood, which in turn will cause a heart attack.
Stress, a risk factor for many diseases
This is the scenario that Dr. Matthias Nahrendorf’s team highlighted by noting that patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital regularly exposed to chronic stress had a very high percentage of white blood cells in their blood. As they conducted their research, they saw the same phenomenon in mice subjected to regular stress and discovered that their arteries were blocked and that they had heart attacks.
Exposure to stress is a risk factor for many diseases: it damages memory, it aggravates allergic reactions, “and it is the cause of heart attack and stroke” insist the researchers at Harvard who now want to work on the search for an antidote which would inhibit the production of white blood cells under chronic stress.
