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Anxiety disorders associated with heart risk

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Individuals with an anxiety disorder may want to consider seeking a cholesterol test to assess their heart health, as a new study has found that mental condition is associated with an increased risk of experiencing a heart attack, stroke or heart failure in patients with heart disease.

Researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands used questionnaires to determine if a set of patients being treated for stable heart disease had an anxiety disorder. They then followed the medical records of participants for an average of 5.6 years.

The study found that patients with an anxiety disorder were 74 percent more likely to experience a heart event.

"This leaves the question of why generalized anxiety disorder is associated with adverse outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease," the study's authors wrote in their report. "Several studies have found that anxiety symptoms are predictive of disability, increased physical symptoms and worse functional status and quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease."

The report noted that between 24 and 31 percent of heart disease patients also have anxiety disorders, putting them at significantly higher risk for experiencing a heart event.