Study: Stress triggers heart-damaging habits

(U.S. News and World Report) UPDATED 2008-12-15

Being under stress pushes people to develop bad habits that can endanger their hearts, British researchers say. For the study, investigators followed 6,576 participants who had filled out a questionnaire that measured their general happiness. The questionnaire asked about such things as symptoms of depression, anxiety, or recent sleep problems. Researchers also collected physical data on the study participants. After seven years, the incidence of adverse cardiac events was 50 percent higher among the people with increased levels of depression and anxiety when compared to happier people. Smoking and lack of physical activity accounted for about 63 percent of the increase, with smoking alone responsible for 41 percent. Read full story >

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