By Joe Piscatella, President, Institute for Fitness & Health My TCOYD Newsletter, Volume 32

We are all used to traditional cardiac risk factors such as elevated cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and family history. But these days, research is being focused on a link between chronic stress and heart attacks.

If there is a common element to modern life, it is that we are a hurried, harried and “stressed-out” society. Most people simply do not have enough time for their overcommitted and overscheduled lives. Chronic stress hits everyone from the elderly couple dealing with extensive medical bills to the young mother who is rushing from work to drive carpool. Such unbridled stress can have a significant adverse influence on cardiac health. People under stress tend to smoke, eat high-fat food and lead sedentary lives, all of which increase heart attack risk. But chronic stress can also impact heart health more directly including:

• Surges in heart rate and blood pressure
• Increases in cholesterol
• Promotion of artery wall inflammation
• Constriction of coronary arteries, which can result in heart attacks
• Heart rhythm irregularities, which can trigger sudden cardiac death
• Increases in blood clotting

An eight-year study of day-of-the-week variations in heart attack incidence showed the incredible impact of stress: significant peaks were found between 7 and 10 o’clock on Monday mornings, when the occurrence of heart attacks was 21% higher than during the rest of the week. The low was on Saturdays.

So, do you retire from the world to reduce stress? Of course not. The fact is that we live in a fast-paced, out-of-time lifestyle and Type A-fostering culture that combines to produce high levels of frustration, anxiety and anger. There will always be traffic jams and checking overdrawn accounts. And there will always be stress. The secret is not to avoid stress, but to manage it.

The first step is to make a decision to take control, to decide to manage your stress rather than have it manage you.

Next, identify what causes you to feel stressed. Is it coming from your job, your home, or both? Are you always out of time? Do you exhibit Type A personality traits?

Finally, do something positive about combating stress. Make a conscious effort to do one or two things each day to help you handle your stress. A few examples include going for a jog or a walk, taking a hot bath, building extra time into your schedule, practicing positive self-talk, breathing deeply, keeping a journal and getting enough sleep.

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