MEDIA RELEASE

29 August 2007
STRESS PUTS PEOPLE AT HIGH RISK FOR HEART DISEASE
By Marion Scher

If you are experiencing financial stress, depression or have undergone a life event like retirement, you may be at risk of a heart attack, according to a report released today entitled 'Heart Disease in South Africa'. Commissioned by The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA (HSFSA) and released by the Medical Research Council (MRC), this report was authored by Prof Krisela Steyn from UCT Department of Medicine.

The report revealed the results of the Interheart Study, conducted in September 2004, which for the first time, looked at the psychosocial aspect of heart disease. Research was conducted in 262 centres in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, North and South America and, for the first time, Africa as part of a 52-country research project.

Research was carried out into people's lives and lifestyles to evaluate the impact that everyday stress, both at home and in the workplace, had on their risk of heart disease.

Factors such as education, income and cardiovascular risk were obtained by asking four simple questions about stress at work and at home, financial stress and major 'life events' over the year of research. Another key factor was the presence of depression.

The findings showed that where several or all of the above stress factors were found, people were at a much higher risk of developing heart disease. The effects of each 'stressor' individually can play a vital role in heart health.

According to Prof Steyn, "Although we have intuitively felt that stress contributes to heart disease, until the publication of the Interheart Study there was very little data to illustrate this relationship scientifically. Now we have accurate data."

The report identified the following 'everyday' problems as being triggers to heart disease:
  • Financial stress
  • Irritability
  • Feelings of anxiety
  • Bad sleeping habits due to work or home problems
  • Lack of control over life events such as divorce and separation
  • Job loss
  • Retirement
  • Business failure
  • Major family conflict
  • Violence
  • Personal injury
  • Illness of a close family member
  • Death of a spouse
Financial stress proved to be the number one cause of stress followed closely by life events and depression. The average age of the sample used was 58 years, with higher general stress affecting those younger, heavier and those who smoked. At the bottom end of the risk scale were those with low income and low education.

Prof Steyn said that the overall result proved that "the importance of psychosocial factors is much more important than commonly recognised and might contribute to a substantial proportion of heart attacks."

Everyday triggers identified above happen to most people at one time or another. The question is how we deal with these stressors before they lead to a condition such as heart disease.

Issued by The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
For more information, please contact:
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TWS Communications
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