Psychological Factors, Poor Health Habits and Heart Disease Studied

People have more access to good health information all the time, yet are all too often ignore the advice to eat better, exercise regularly and to stop bad habits, such as smoking. Medical research has shown a link between poor health habits, cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. A new study explores the relationship between psychological distress and poor health habits, which can lead to heart disease. The question for medical professionals is how to use the information to effect behavioral changes in the lives of their patients.

It is common wisdom that stress is bad for the heart and the anxiety and depression are bad for heath, but how these negative emotions affect the body is largely unknown. The subject of how depression and anxiety affect the health is the topic of a study by the American College of Cardiology. New research offers some insights to the question of how negative emotions cripple the cardiovascular system and what can be done to prevent damage

American College of Cardiology Report

The December 16/23, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) reports on the study about the relationship between psychological distress and poor health habits.

According to a press release by the American College of Cardiology, the study shows that many people in psychological distress also slip into poor health habits. Smoking and physical inactivity are the most significant habits related to psychological stress. According the study, smoking and lack of exercise alone may account for nearly two thirds of the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular disease in people who suffer from anxiety and depression. These behavoral habits damate the heart and blood vessel, according to the information released by JACC.

The link between psychological distress and heart disease has been established in previous studies. The question for medical professionals is what the best way to treat poor habits due to distress. So far there is not enough evidence to show that treating depression and anxiety can reduce the risk of heart attack and subsequent death. The most efficient method of intervention is to affect behavioral changes.

The importance of healthy behaviors, such as good nutrition, exercising and avoiding smoking is reported regularly. This study indicates that people may feel unmotivated to make positive change in their life because of psychological factors that seem of their control.

People who use smoking cigarettes as a coping mechanism have difficulty letting the poor habit go, even if they do admit that it damages their health. For a sedentary person, getting up and exercising is equally challenging. Long time bad habits are difficult to break. People who are decondiioned because of poor health habits may not be able to get into shape easily and the challenge may seem overwhelming.

A person with poor habits as a result of psychological factors may have trouble accepting that their habits can truly have a negative effect on their health and deny the need to cease smoking or start exercising.

Medical Professionals Target Behavioral Interventions

According to a comment by Roland von Kanel, M.D., a professor of medicine and psychiatry at the Cardiovascular Center of University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland, the findings may encourage medical professional to 'target behavioral interventions, such as smoking cessation, increasing physical activity, stress management and relaxation techniques previously shown to restore cardiovascular function and to reduce inflammation. '

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