Stress and cardiovascular disease
Ebstrup, J.F.; Jørgensen, T.
Ugeskrift for Laeger 174(4): 204-207
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1603-6824 PMID: 22277363 Document Number: 659414
Risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been studied intensely since the 1950s. Results on stress as a risk factor for CVD have been inconsistent, but mainly positive. The risk is mediated through lifestyle, but more direct physiological mechanisms (e.g. autonomous nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) are also found. Personality and general coping resources influence stress-appraisal, stress-coping and stress-response. Future studies should integrate stress as a cause (stressor), as a subjective reaction (perception), and as a physiological reaction in the same longitudinal studies with repeated measures.