Psychosocial Stress and CHD when Controlling for Traditional Risk Factors

Abstract

There is increasing evidence from large-scale retrospective studies (1), but also from prospective studies (5), that emotional stress has an impact on the development of coronary heart disease. There is still confusion, however, concerning how great this impact is and how it operates. In the present study the following questions were asked: Has emotional stress a direct, independent effect on the cardiovascular system? Or is it perhaps mediated by one or more of the standard risk factors, e.g., by a chronic elevation of blood pressure or blood lipids, or by excessive smoking?