Stress Reaction Predicts Death Risk

March 10, 1999

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health)--People with heart disease are at greater risk of dying if psychological stress causes cardiac ischemia, a reduction in blood flow to the heart muscle.

The amount of ischemia triggered by the psychological stress of public speaking was a predictor of death during a 3- to 4-year study, reported Dr. David S. Sheps, of Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tuesday at the 48th annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

Previously published data from the study, known as the PIMI (Psychophysiologic Investigations of Myocardial Ischemia) trial, revealed that specific psychological traits themselves are not associated with heart disease.

But in this same group of 147 cardiac patients, those who developed ischemia in response to mental stress had a higher risk of dying during a 4-year period compared with those without psychological stress-induced ischemia.

"This risk is not accounted for by depression, anger, or other psychological traits," according to the researchers.

Mental stress may increase activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the involuntary nervous system that can accelerate heart rate, constrict blood vessels and raise blood pressure, according to the report.

Stress Intensifies Cold and Flu Symptoms

March 22, 1999

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)--Researchers believe that interleukin-6 may be a biological link between psychological stress and the severity of cold and flu symptoms. Interleukin-6 - a protein produced in the body - helps to coordinate immune responses.

"This is the first study to provide evidence ... that psychological stress influences upper respiratory infectious illness through a biological pathway," Dr. Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues report in the March issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

The researchers drew their conclusions after studying 55 adult volunteers who had been injected with influenza A virus.

The study subjects were quarantined in a hotel for seven days during which time the investigators measured the severity of their respiratory symptoms, the amount of mucus production, and levels of interleukin-6.

Prior to injection with the virus, the subjects completed questionnaires that measured their levels of psychological stress.

The researchers found that volunteers who reported greater psychological stress before being inoculated responded to infection with more intense symptoms, greater mucous production, and higher concentrations of interleukin-6 in their nasal secretions.

According to a press statement, "the finding is a significant step forward in establishing a direct link between stress and human illness."

 

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