New study results out of the University of Pittsburgh say that the higher your levels of anxiety, the more likely you are to suffer a stroke.
The long-term research looked at over 6,000 patients starting in the mid-1970s.
Their evidence suggests that even moderately increased anxiety can increase chances of the potentially deadly or debilitating ailment.
Cause for concern? A study that followed 6,000 people beginning in the 1970s has concluded that anxiety is a serious risk factor for stroke
The top worst 33 percent of anxiety sufferers were found to have a whopping one-third higher chance of having a stroke than those with the least amount of anxiety.
The study was led by Maya Lambiase, whose team collected data on participants aged 25 to 74.
They filled out questionnaires and were given tests to determine their levels of anxiety and depression.
For decades thereafter, researchers kept track of the strokes experienced by the thousands of participants.
Could it happen to me? The worst third of anxiety sufferers in the study were 33 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than the least anxious third of participants
They discovered that, other risk factors like smoking and high blood pressure aside, anxiety was its own major contributing risk factor to stroke.
‘Everyone has some anxiety now and then. But when it's elevated and/or chronic, it may have an effect on your vasculature [blood vessel system] years down the road,’ Lambiase said.
Research noted that risk factors like smoking—which people with anxiety tend to more commonly do—were more likely to lead to stroke than anxiety alone.
But Lambiase and her team said that the direct biological effects should be considered when assessing risk and seeking to prevent stroke.
‘Given anxiety is highly prevalent in the population, our findings suggest that assessing anxiety symptoms may contribute to developing more effective preventive and intervention strategies for reducing stroke risk,’ the study concluded.
Preventable? The researchers concluded that the direct biological effects of anxiety should be used in helping assess risk for and ways to prevent stroke
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2526807/Dont-panic-New-study-says-greater-anxiety-likely-stroke.html#ixzz2o1QtEwib
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