今天持续的压力可能预示着明天的心脏问题

People whose stress hormones reach high levels are at greater risk for developing high blood pressure or having a heart attack or stroke down the road, 根据一项新的研究.

周一发表在美国心脏协会杂志上 高血压, 该研究分析了去甲肾上腺素的水平, 肾上腺素, dopamine and cortisol – hormones that respond to stress levels – in urine samples.

The work builds on previous studies showing cumulative exposure to daily stress, 以及暴露在创伤压力下, 会增加心血管疾病的风险吗. 越来越多的研究表明，人的思维与大脑之间存在联系, heart and body – that a person's psychological health can influence heart and brain health.

And while previous studies focused on the impact of stress levels in people who already had hypertension, there was a lack of research in adults who didn't have high blood pressure, 研究作者. 井上孝介在线上电子游戏飞禽走兽发布会上说.

"It is important to examine the impact of stress on adults in the general population because it provides new information about whether routine measurement of stress hormones needs to be considered to prevent hypertension and (cardiovascular disease) events,井上说, an assistant professor of social epidemiology at Kyoto University in Japan who also is affiliated with the department of epidemiology at the University of California, 洛杉矶菲尔丁公共卫生学院.

He and his team measured the four stress hormones in 412 Hispanic, 来自纽约和洛杉矶的黑人和白人. 三种激素，去甲肾上腺素, 肾上腺素 and dopamine – are known as catecholamines and help regulate involuntary body functions such as heart rate, 血压和呼吸. The fourth, cortisol, is a steroid hormone released during stress.

"Although all of these hormones are produced in the adrenal gland, they have different roles and mechanisms to influence the cardiovascular system, so it is important to study their relationship with hypertension and cardiovascular events individually,井上说.

参与者, who had normal blood pressure and were 48 to 87 years old at the start of the study, 被跟踪了十多年吗. 大约七年后, every time a person's levels of all four stress hormones doubled, 患高血压的风险增加了21%至31%.

经过11年的随访, 每次皮质醇水平都会翻倍, researchers found a 90% increased risk in cardiovascular events such as chest pain, 需要做动脉切开手术, 心脏病发作或中风. No connection was found between the other three stress hormones and cardiovascular problems during the longer follow-up.

"The next key research question is whether and in which populations increased testing of stress hormones could be helpful,井上说. “目前, these hormones are measured only when hypertension with an underlying cause or other related diseases are suspected. 然而, if additional screening could help prevent hypertension and cardiovascular events, 我们可能需要更频繁地测量这些激素水平."

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