Anxiety Takes Its Toll on the Heart

Anxiety has emerged as perhaps the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to a new study in Current Opinion in Psychiatry. Anxiety increases the risk of major cardiac events in coronary heart disease. There is also a need for elucidating the influence of anxiety in cardiomyopathy and hypertension.

Moreover, the researchers suggest that anxiety is an antecedent risk factor, so it influences the prognosis in patients with cardiovascular disease, and needs to be recognized and managed at every step. Anxiety drives other risk factors, such as depression, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, substance use, and overweight.