Anxiety, depression, and other mental distress may lead to greater heart attack and stroke risk in adults over 45

In a study of 221,677 participants from Australia, researchers found that:

• among women, high/very high psychological distress was associated with a 44 percent increased risk of stroke; and
• in men ages 45 to 79, high/very high versus low psychological distress was associated with a 30 percent increased risk of heart attack, with weaker estimates in those 80 years old or older.

The association between psychological distress and increased cardiovascular disease risk was present even after accounting for lifestyle behaviors (smoking, alcohol intake, dietary habits, etc.) and disease history.

“While these factors might explain some of the observed increased risk, they do not appear to account for all of it, indicating that other mechanisms are likely to be important,” said Caroline Jackson, Ph.D., the study’s senior author and a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The research involved participants who had not experienced a heart attack or stroke at the start of the study and who were part of the New South Wales 45 and Up Study that recruited adults ages 45 or older between 2006 and 2009.
Source: Anxiety, depression, other mental distress may increase heart attack, stroke risk in adults over 45