14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh discovered in a new study that people who suffer from anxiety are more likely to have a stroke than peers who do not display anxious behavior or anxiety symptoms. This is one of the first scientific investigations ever conducted on the link between these conditions.
According to the new paper, which was published in the latest issue of the journal Stroke, anxious people had a 33 percent higher risk of suffering a stroke than non-anxious individuals. The lead investigator on the research was UPSM professor Maya Lambiase, PhD, PsychCentral reports.
For this study, the team looked at data covering more than 6,000 people, taken from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey began in the early 1970s, and covers people between the ages of 25 and 74. The participants filled out questionnaires about anxiety and depression regularly.
Scientists then monitored their evolution over the decades, and kept tabs on who died and why. The team found that even a moderate increase in anxiety could lead to stroke. “Everyone has some anxiety now and then. But when it’s elevated and/or chronic, it may have an effect on your [vascular system] years down the road,” Lambiase explains.