We have known for a long time that even minor stress is bad for our heart and that it will reduce by 20% our life expectancy. But this time, researchers from the Harvard Medical School (United States) have finally discovered the biological link between chronic stress and heart attack. Stress triggers our “fighting mechanism” which is to send a rush of adrenaline 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 prove to be dreadful if the arteries are already partly clogged (what is called atherosclerosis).
Indeed, when damaged arteries have to deal with inflammation, this can cause damage and release clots in the blood, which in turn will cause a heart attack.
Stress, a risk factor for many diseases
It is this scenario that Dr. Matthias Nahrendorf’s team highlighted by noting that patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital regularly exposed to chronic stress had very high percentages of white blood cells in their blood. Carrying out their research further, they saw the same phenomenon in mice subjected to regular stress and then discovered that their arteries were clogged and that they suffered heart attacks.
Exposure to stress is a risk factor for many diseases: it damages memoryit worsens allergic reactions“and it is the cause of heart attack and stroke” insist Harvard researchers who now want to work in search of an antidote that would inhibit the production of white blood cells in the event of chronic stress.
