Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, so there is a great push to eat more heart-healthy foods, get more exercise that’s good for the heart, and get your heart health checked out by a doctor. However, one area of heart health that needs a lot more focus and effort is the effect that stress has on the heart. Take our quiz on stress and its effect on the cardiovascular system to reduce stress and achieve the best health for your heart.
1. True or false? A 2021 study found that one in six people with heart disease were two times as likely to experience myocardial ischemia—a reduction in blood flow to the heart— when they experienced mental stress.
2. What are some of the mechanisms related to constant mental stress that researchers believe contribute to heart problems?
A. Stress increases blood pressure.
B. Stress raises cortisol levels.
C. Emotional stress increases risky behaviors connected with heart disease, like smoking, overeating, lack of physical activity, and eating junk food.
D. Constant mental and emotional stress can lead to depression and anxiety.
E. All of the above
3. True or false? Researchers have proven a connection between mental stress and myocardial ischemia, showing that mental stress activates distinct physiological responses in the body that lead to reduced blood flow to the heart that physical exercise alone does not.
4. True or false? While the exact relationship between stress and heart disease is not yet known, negative psychological and mental health is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke; and positive psychological health is associated with a lower risk of heart disease and death.
5. Which of the following does NOT qualify as a negative mental health condition?
A. Burnout and/or Depression
B. Anxiety
C. Gratitude
D. Anger
E. Pessimism and/or dissatisfaction with life
6. True or false? The idiom “died from a broken heart” has basis in broken heart syndrome, also known as takotsubo, or stress-induced cardiomyopathy.
7. Broken heart syndrome, where part of the heart is temporarily disrupted in its usual pumping function due to emotional stress, mimics the symptoms of a heart attack in which of the following ways?
A. Chest pain (the most common symptom)
B. Shortness of breath
C. Loss of consciousness or fainting
D. Rapid or irregular heartbeats, or palpitations
E. All of the above
8. True or false? With treatment, broken heart syndrome usually reverses itself in days or weeks, unlike heart disease caused by coronary artery disease or blocked heart arteries.
9. True or false? Researchers believe that some people’s heart problems due to emotional stress could be caused by a dysregulation between the sympathetic nervous system (responsible for fight-or-flight response) and the parasympathetic nervous systems (responsible for calming you down); basically the two systems that help the brain communicate with the heart are at odds.
10. Which of the following are ways to combat stress that could contribute to heart disease?
A. Make time for friends, family, and laughter.
B. Use physical activity to ease stress and improve mood.
C. Take up an engaging hobby.
D. Manage stress with mindful meditation and deep breathing, like yoga.
E. Get seven to eight hours of sleep per night.
F. Talk with a health care provider about getting help for unending stress or symptoms of depression.
G. All of the above
Compiled by ERIKA ALDRICH / Information from The American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, and Mayo Clinic
ANSWERS
- True. Mental stress made one-sixth of heart disease sufferers twice as likely to suffer a myocardial ischemia.
- E. All of the above. There are many ways mental stress is bad for the heart.
- True. Mental stress activates responses in the body that physical stress does not.
- True. Negative psychological and mental health increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
- C. Gratitude. The rest are negative mental health conditions.
- True
- E. All of the above. Broken heart syndrome and a heart attack share many symptoms.
- True. Broken heart syndrome usually responds to treatment quickly.
- True. Researchers have recorded dysregulation between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
- G. All of the above