Stress is a great enemy of today’s lifestyle that, in appreciable proportions, can significantly damage health. Thus, a study recently published in the journal Hypertension, points out that the higher the stress levels, the higher the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Manage stress to take care of your heart
The research in question examined the association between levels of stress hormones in urine with incident high blood pressure or cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack or stroke.
This prospective cohort study included more than 400 adults between 48 and 87 years of age, and corroborated after an average follow-up of 6.5 years that at higher levels of stress hormones, both catecholamines and cortisol were raised the risk of high blood pressure.
Likewise, high levels of cortisol were associated after 11.2 years of follow-up increased risk of cardiovascular incidents.
All this indicates that high levels of cortisol in urine, which is an indicator of stress levels in the body, are linked to increased chances of high blood pressure in the next 6 to 7 years as well as a higher risk of suffering cardiovascular events.
So, if we seek to take care of the health of the heart, controlling stress levels in our body is key.
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