Stress and heart disease: Keep your heart healthy with yoga, meditation, daily exercises

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but when it becomes chronic, it can take a serious toll on your heart health. While you may experience stress from time to time, it’s how you manage it that matters. Effectively managing stress can help reduce your risk of heart disease by helping to prevent the physical and emotional strain that chronic stress puts on the cardiovascular system.

You might not feel it immediately, but over time, the constant pressures from work and everyday life accumulate, and affect both your mind and body in ways that can contribute to serious health problems, says Dr Anup Taksande, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Wockhardt Hospital Mira Road. “Chronic stress leads to sustained increases in blood pressure and heart rate, putting immense strain on your heart. It’s important to manage stress effectively to reduce the long-term impact it can have on your cardiovascular health,” he adds.

When you're stressed, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. “While these hormones are helpful in short bursts, prolonged exposure due to chronic stress can have harmful effects. These hormones increase your heart rate and blood pressure, which, over time, can lead to heart disease,” he continues.

Also read | Emotions and heart attack: Why anger, depression and stress can lead to serious heart disease

Dr Taksande shares how chronic stress can make you feel anxious and physically impacts your heart:

• Inflammation and plaque build-up: Chronic stress promotes inflammation throughout the body, including the blood vessels. This inflammation can damage the walls of your arteries, thus promoting plaque build-up and narrowing of the blood vessels. This contributes to atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

• Unhealthy coping behaviours: People who are under constant stress often turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as smoking, overeating, or drinking alcohol, all of which have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Comfort foods high in sugar, fat, and salt, like pizza, ice cream, and fried snacks, can exacerbate heart problems.

• Sleep disruption: Stress can interfere with sleep quality, leading to poor rest. Lack of sleep is linked to high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and other conditions that increase the risk of heart disease.

• High blood pressure: Stress causes temporary spikes in blood pressure, but chronic stress can lead to consistently high blood pressure. Increased blood pressure puts extra pressure on the heart and blood vessels, contributing to the risk of heart disease over time.

• Increased heart rate: Chronic stress leads to a persistently increased heart rate. The heart has to work harder to pump blood, placing an additional burden on the cardiovascular system, and over time, this can result in heart failure or other cardiovascular complications.

Simple ways to manage stress, safeguard your health:

• Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices such as meditation and yoga may reduce stress levels. Studies show that these practices lower cortisol and adrenaline levels, helping to reduce strain on the heart. Regular mindfulness can also improve heart rate variability, which is a positive indicator of heart health, and lower the inflammation linked to cardiovascular disease. Staying calm and composed during stressful situations can prevent unnecessary panic and emotional strain on the heart.

• Exercise: Physical activity is one of the best ways to combat stress and support heart health. Regular exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood circulation, and lowers blood pressure. It also helps regulate cholesterol levels, maintains a healthy weight, and releases endorphins, which elevate mood and reduce stress. Furthermore, regular exercise improves sleep, which is essential for cardiovascular health.