Anger, anxiety and depression not only affect
the functioning of the heart, but also increase
the risk for heart disease, scientists have warned.
Stroke and heart attacks are the end products
of progressive damage to blood vessels
supplying the heart and brain, a process
called atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis progresses when there are
high levels of chemicals in the body called
pro-inflammatory cytokines.
It is thought that persisting stress increases
the risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular
disease by evoking negative emotions that, in
turn, raise the levels of pro-inflammatory
chemicals in the body.
Researchers have now investigated the
underlying neural circuitry of this process.
"Drawing upon the observation that many of
the same brain areas involved in emotion are
also involved in sensing and regulating levels
of inflammation in the body, we hypothesised
that brain activity linked to negative emotions
– specifically efforts to regulate negative
emotions – would relate to physical signs of
risk for heart disease," said Dr Peter Gianaros,
Associate Professor at the University of
Pittsburgh and first author on the study.
Gianaros and his colleagues recruited 157
healthy adult volunteers who were asked to
regulate their emotional reactions to
unpleasant pictures while their brain activity
was measured with functional imaging.
Researchers also scanned their arteries for
signs of atherosclerosis to assess heart disease
risk and measured levels of inflammation in
the bloodstream, a major physiological risk
factor for atherosclerosis and premature
death by heart disease.
They found that individuals who show greater
brain activation when regulating their
negative emotions also exhibit elevated blood
levels of interleukin-6, one of the body's pro-
inflammatory cytokines, and increased
thickness of the carotid artery wall, a marker
of atherosclerosis.
The inflammation levels accounted for the
link between signs of atherosclerosis and
brain activity patterns seen during emotion
regulation.
"These new findings agree with the popular
belief that emotions are connected to heart
health," said Gianaros.
"We think that the mechanistic basis for this
connection may lie in the functioning of brain
regions important for regulating both
emotion and inflammation.
"These findings may have implications for
brain-based prevention and intervention
efforts to improve heart health and protect
against heart disease," said Gianaros.
The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
