Heart Disease: Other Possible Factors << Heart Health and Stroke << womenshealth.gov

Heart Disease: Other Possible Factors

Emotional and environmental factors can also contribute to your heart disease risk.

Learn more about how stress and depression can affect your health with these womenshealth.gov fact sheets:

Depression, stress, and anxiety — Negative emotions like depression, stress, and anxiety can raise your risk of developing heart disease. Researchers aren’t exactly sure why this is. Perhaps these emotions lead to unhealthy ways of coping, such as smoking, drink too much, or eating high-fat foods — all which can put your heart health at risk. Research also suggests that depression itself is a risk factor for heart disease. Depression, stress, and other negative emotions may affect the body in ways that trigger plaque buildup or clot formation within the arteries. So, taking care of your emotional health is just as important as taking care of your physical health. Talk to your doctor or a counselor if you have symptoms of depression or problems coping with daily stressors.

Not enough sleep — Not getting enough sleep won’t just make you cranky, it can also raise your risk for heart disease. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. In adults between the ages of 32 and 59, sleeping less than five hours per night can double the risk of high blood pressure. So make sure you’re getting enough sleep. If you’re having trouble sleeping, don’t drink caffeine or alcohol before bed and make sure your bedroom is cool and dark. Also, try doing something relaxing before bed and use your bed for sleep and sex only.

Lower income — Research shows that lower income adults have an increased risk of heart disease. Children born into lower income families are also more likely to have heart disease as adults. This may be because low-income adults are less likely to be physically active, eat a heart-healthy diet, and are more likely to smoke. It can be difficult to eat a heart-healthy diet in lower income neighborhoods. It may also be hard to find a safe place to be physically active. Check with religious or community centers, or the parks department to see if there are any physical activity groups you can join.

Additional Resources

Publications

Improving the Health of Low-Income and Uninsured Women — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death among women in the United States. This report shows how the CDC’s WISEWOMAN campaign is raising awareness and fighting cardiovascular disease in women.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/wisewoman.htm

Acute Emotional Stress and the Heart (Copyright © JAMA) — Emotional stress can affect your heart rate and blood pressure. Stress on the heart can also lead to a heart attack. This publication talks more about emotional stress and how to manage stressful situations.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/298/3/360.pdf

Depression and Heart Disease (Copyright © Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) — This fact sheet explains the link between depression and heart disease. It also discusses the likelihood of developing heart disease if depression is untreated.

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_depression_heartdisease...

Sleep Apnea: Can It Cause Heart Disease? (Copyright © MFMER) — This publication discusses how sleep apnea not only causes changes in breathing while sleeping, but also can cause problems leading to heart disease.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/sleep-apnea/HB00095/METHOD=print

Organizations

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated: February 1, 2009