Wall Street, foreclosures can hurt heart

NAHSVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Unemployment, foreclosures and stock market crises may affect cardiac health, a U.S. doctor warns.

Dr. Keith Churchwell of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute in Nashville says events causing prolonged stress may cause increasing physical demands on the body, constriction of the coronary blood vessels and heightened electrical instability in the heart.

"Prolonged stress, both emotional and physical, impacts the overall cardiovascular status of our patients, particularly their blood pressure," Churchwell says in a statement.

Emotional stress, can lead to decreased heart rate variability and elevated blood pressure, making the heart work harder. The long-term elevation of blood pressure can have a harmful effect on the heart and the entire vascular system and over a long time, elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline -- called catecholamines -- can have damaging effects on the heart muscle.

"We will see a number of people come through the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Clinic for an evaluation of chest pain, elevated blood pressure and shortness of breath that are outward manifestations of the emotional currents going on in their work lives," Churchwell says. "They will either be dragged in by a family member who is worried about them or by a co-worker."