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"Mental stress" that you may not even know is there is a stronger indicator of heart attack or other severe heart event than other known risk factors including smoking, having high cholesterol or diabetes or being a man.
According to researchers, people whose blood pressure rose during periods of "mental stress" were six times more likely to have a coronary heart disease event within six years than those who remained calm under the stress.
The study participants typically did not realize when the stress was taking a toll. There was no correlation between actual mental stress and the participants' perceptions of it.
Researchers concluded that "conscious stress and biological stress may be two different things," and hope to someday develop a blood test that could warn those at risk.
Yahoo News November 11, 2003
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