Keeping your stress at bay is important for good heart health. Anxiety and stress can damage your overall health as well as your heart, and should be minimized if at all possible. However, not all stress can simply be eliminated from your life. Being aware of how stress contributes to heart issues may help you take daily steps to greatly reduce your stress levels.
Increases Inflammation
Being regularly stressed out can cause serious inflammation, triggering cardiovascular problems. Arteries in your heart can become clogged and could prevent your heart from functioning as well as it should.
Studies show that people dealing with extremely challenging situations, such as grieving the loss of a loved one or serving in the military, have been more likely to have heart problems.
Consider engaging in daily calming practices, like meditation or exercise, to help you reduce the amount of stress in your life and the possibility of unwanted inflammation around your heart.
Raises Blood Pressure
Your ideal blood pressure (BP) reading should be 120/80. This will help keep your heart in good condition and work to keep your blood flowing to and from your heart in the way it should.
However, stress can cause your BP reading to spike, and over time, this can cause damage to your heart and arteries. This could potentially lead to heart disease or even a heart attack, if left untreated.
Be sure to add some simple tricks and techniques to your daily routine, even ones as simple as deep breathing, to help you reduce the stress in your everyday life.
Let Us Help!
At Brookhaven Heart, we are experts when it comes to having and maintaining a healthy heart. We can complete a thorough examination for you that will show the condition of your heart and provide you with ways to reduce stress in your life. Simply give us a call at (631) 654-3278 and we’ll schedule an appointment for you.
