Depression, Stress and Hostility Increase Stroke Risk, Study Finds

Rebecca Lewis July 14, 2014

Middle-aged and older adults who suffer from high levels of stress, hostility, or depression are at greater risk for stroke or transient ischemic attack or a stroke caused by a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain.

In the new study, researchers investigated data included more than 6,700 adults, ages 45-84, of which 53 per cent are women.

Participants reported their chronic stress levels, depressive symptoms, anger, and hostility over a two-year period.

Researchers measured chronic stress in five domains – personal health problems, health problems of others close to the participant, job or ability to work, relationships, and finances. Depressive symptoms were measured with a 20-question scale and anger was measured with a 10-item scale that captured the extent and frequency of experiencing that emotion. Hostility was measured by assessing a person’s cynical expectations of other people’s motives.

Findings

Compared to people with the lowest psychological scores, those who had higher levels of depression, stress and hostility were 86 per cent more likely to have a stroke or TIA for high depressive symptoms; 59 per cent more likely to have a stroke or TIA for the highest chronic stress scores; and more than twice as likely to have a stroke or TIA for the highest hostility scores. There was no significant increased risk was linked to anger.

“There’s such a focus on traditional risk factors — cholesterol levels, blood pressure, smoking, and so forth — and those are all very important, but studies like this one show that psychological characteristics are equally important,” said lead author Susan Everson-Rose, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

“Given our aging population, it’s important to consider these other factors that might play a role in disease risk. Stroke is a disease of the elderly predominantly, and so learning more about things that can influence risk for stroke as people age is important.”

The study was published in the journal Stroke.

Source of this article:

Stress, Depression, Hostility Raise Stroke Risk