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Turn stress down like a thermostat
Stress is physical
That response is great when a tiger is chasing you, but the body can't have it all the time. Telling someone not to be stressed is crazy, because most stress is rational: busy jobs, heavy responsibilities, and a stressful world that doesn't go away. What changes is the approach to it, a little more patience, a little more acceptance, a little less road rage.
Small habits
Small things help. Noticing the breath at a red light is one, and anger management is part of stress management. The American Heart Association recommends yoga and mindfulness, and there is scientific validation that they are effective for people with heart disease.
Therapy and caregiving
Talk therapy reduces stress, and one women's heart program includes two psychologists in its diagnostic and treatment options. Women make up almost 60 percent of unpaid caregivers in the United States, and chronic stress can raise the risk of heart disease and of other risk factors such as obesity.
How does chronic stress reach the heart?
Stress signals the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol, which speed the heart and tighten blood vessels, raising blood pressure. When this response stays switched on, the constant pressure damages artery walls over time. Cortisol also raises blood sugar and promotes fat storage around the abdomen. A 2017 study in The Lancet by Ahmed Tawakol and colleagues linked higher activity in the brain's fear center to more cardiovascular events.
What did the American Heart Association conclude about meditation?
A 2017 scientific statement from the American Heart Association reviewed the research on meditation and cardiovascular health. It concluded that meditation may be a reasonable addition to standard efforts to lower cardiovascular risk. The statement noted that most studies were small and varied in quality. Its authors called for larger trials.
Where does the term fight or flight come from?
The Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon coined it in his 1915 book Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. He studied animals under threat and described how the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body to confront danger or flee from it. Hans Selye, an endocrinologist, later introduced the broader concept of stress in the 1930s and 1950s.
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