Like any good blogger, I spend some time cruising the internet headlines for articles regarding my subject that could prompt a good post. A simple search for “heart health news” can turn up plenty of interesting material, ranging across a wide spectrum of subtopics. Well, one of today’s winning articles really caught my eye. An archived article by Reuters (published on MSNBC.com) blasted the bold headline of, “A loss by your favorite team may really kill you.” The subheading then stated, “Death rates jumped in L.A. following the Rams’ 1980 Super Bowl defeat.” One of our interns, Alex, had been helping me bounce around ideas for a good blog post, so with a little bit more digging, we decided to unearth more of the implications emotions can have on heart health. (The Reuters/MSNBC article can be seen here.)
The Reuters article was rather straightforward. The intense emotions tied to something like the Super Bowl can be very stressful on the body. Every interception against your team bring a flutter of anger or disappointment, every 50-yard run is a jolt of excitement, and every touchdown is an explosion of celebration…at least, if you’re emotionally attached to one of the teams. The end result seems to be that plenty of people die on the night of the Super Bowl, or the following day. This is because of the stress that these emotions put on your heart. I’m not saying that it’s bad to get excited about a sporting event…in fact, I love that people can have something to be passionate about! This is just further proof that emotions can really have a health impact!
Another, more serious example of the emotion-heart health parallel comes from the military. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, young men who suffer from war-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are more likely to have early-onset heart health risks. The amount of stress that military personnel experience in battle is massive. I can understand where that sort of deep, unshakable experience could have a lasting impression on someone’s emotional health, which in turn influence their physical health. (An article in regards to this topic can be seen here.)
Emotional health, or lack of it, can actually hurt your heart in indirect ways, as well. Your body reacts in emotions in different ways. Social stress, for example, can cause your body to store fat. According to a study published in Obesity, things like loneliness, social akwardness, and overall unhappiness can prompt your body to pack on the pounds. In other words, being sad or lonely can really hurt your waistline…which, we all know, can lead to serious heart troubles. (This article from ScienceDaily can be seen here.)
The last article I’m going to foist upon you is fairly straightforward. In fact, the only thing I need to do is tell you its title. That, and where it’s published. From Medical News Today, this article is also published in a professional magazine known as Mental Health. The title? “Stress And Emotions Can Negatively Affect Heart Health.” Ding ding ding! We have a winner! (See this article here.)
Alright. If this isn’t proof enough that your emotions have a direct influence on your heart, I don’t know how else to convince you!