Stress Might Increase the Cholesterol Level

A study carried out by a team of British scientists has showed that stress affects not only blood pressure, the immune system's ability to fight colds and certain inflammatory markers, but also the cholesterol level.

Andrew Steptoe, D.Sc., and Lena Brydon, Ph.D. of University College London examined how individuals react to stress and whether this reaction can increase cholesterol and heighten cardiovascular risk in the future.

Changes in total cholesterol, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), were assessed in the 199 participants.

At the follow up, three years later, cholesterol levels in all the participants in the study had gone up, as might be expected through passage of time. However, individuals with larger initial stress responses had substantially greater rises in cholesterol than those with small stress responses.

"Our study found that individuals vary in their cholesterol responses to stress", said Dr. Steptoe. "Some of the participants show large increases even in the short term, while others show very little response. The cholesterol responses that we measured in the lab probably reflect the way people react to challenges in everyday life as well. So the larger cholesterol responders to stress tasks will be large responders to emotional situations in their lives. It is these responses in everyday life that accumulate to lead to an increase in fasting cholesterol or lipid levels three years later. It appears that a person's reaction to stress is one mechanism through which higher lipid levels may develop."