End Your Struggle With Anxiety

Anxiety Raises Health Risks, And Poor Health Raises Anxiety

Anxiety is a problem that many people in our society struggle with. Evidence is showing that anxiety leads to bigger problems besides just feeling uneasy. Researchers from The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found a link between anxiety and other serious health risks.

A recent study has shown that there is an increased risk of stroke for those people who suffer from anxiety. The results reported that individuals with generalized anxiety symptoms were 33% more at risk to develop a stroke than that of people who did not have significant signs of anxiety. These findings were calculated after using control methods independent of outside influences such as depression and cardiovascular factors.

The findings of this study were part of an ongoing longevity study that followed subjects for over 16 years and they were regularly interviewed, blood tested, and given medical and physiological examinations. “Our study looked at anxiety along a continuum in the general population and not as a specific disorder,” Says Dr. Maya J. Lambiase PhD.

In a society where stroke and cardiovascular disease are on the rise on their own, this study has shown that stress and anxiety directly raise probability of stroke and at risk percentage towards serious health conditions. The clear message this study brings to light is that it is imperative for those suffering from anxiety to take proactive steps to prevent serious health conditions down the road.

Furthermore, this study has shown another interesting factor related to the causes of anxiety; Poor health and lifestyle choices lead to increased anxiety and complications.

Those individuals with the highest levels of anxiety are typically associated with being in poor physical shape and having habits such as smoking.

“Poor health behaviors may be one pathway linking anxiety with stroke risk,” the researchers wrote. “In the present study, behaviors (particularly smoking and physical activity) had the most sizeable attenuating effect on the relationship between anxiety and incidental stroke.

However, since these behaviors did not account fully for the association between anxiety and incident stroke, direct biological effects of anxiety should also be considered.”
Source Reference: Anxiety Linked to Higher Stroke Risk, By Salynn Boyles, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today. Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RSN, Nurse Planner.
Primary Source Reference: Lambaise M, et al “A prospective study of anxiety and incident stroke” Stroke 2013; DOI: 10.1161/STROKEEAHA.113.003741