Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that coronary heart disease (CHD) was infrequent well into the twentieth century and the increase in coronary heart disease in following years, in western societies, cannot be attributed to factors such as hereditary or an increase in the population of older individuals. The author explains that the rapid increase in industrialization in the U.S. culture creates individual competitiveness, which places more stress on the individual since success or failure is the responsibility of the individual perceived to be his or her burden alone, which can result in anger and emotions such as frustration, tension and sadness that have a negative physiological effect on the body. The paper stresses that counseling including behavior modification, medication prescribed for anxiety and depression, involvement in support groups and social settings and various relaxation techniques can help reduce stress and thereby prevent CHD.

From the Paper:

"In addition to its potential to raise blood pressure and contribute to hardened arteries, researchers believe that anger arouses the involuntary nervous system--the network that controls unconscious bodily functions like digestion, sweating, and heartbeat. Specifically, they think it prompts the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and catecholamines (cat-e-COL-uh-meenz). Over time, having too many stress hormones floating through the system can damage the heart muscle and the delicate linings of surrounding blood vessels as well as disrupt the heart's electrical rhythm. In addition, stress hormones trigger the biochemical process that causes blood platelets to become sticky and clump together--a process that has been implicated in the formation of artery-clogging plaque. This hostility, which continues over time, is considered a "chronic" form of stress."

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