The Role of Stress in Illness - Cardiovascular Disorder Flashcards
As well as resulting in a suppressed immune system, prolonged stress can also result in…
cardiovascular disorders (CVD).
What is a cardiovascular disorder?
It refers to any disease of the heart and circulatory system.
This can include:
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Hardened arteries
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
These conditions are the result of arteries supplying the heart with blood becoming clogged up with fatty materials.
These symptoms can lead to heart attacks and other severe health problems.
Stress can lead to cardiovascular disorders either directly i.e. through continued activation of the body’s stress pathways:
Stress activates the sympathetic branch of the ANS, resulting in the secretion of adrenaline (and noradrenaline).
High levels of adrenaline will have the following effects:
Heart rate: Adrenaline causes the heart to beat faster - a raised heart rate can cause strain to the heart, which can take its toll over time.
Blood pressure: Constriction of the blood vessels increases blood pressure, which puts tension on the blood vessels, causing them to wear away.
Blood vessels: Increased pressure can also dislodge plaque from the blood vessels, and this leads to blocked arteries (atherosclerosis), which may cause a heart attack or a stroke.
How might stress indirectly lead to cardiovascular disorders?
Lifestyle factors can increase the risk of cardiovascular disorders (CVD).
Individuals may resort to unhealthy behaviours as a form of stress relief i.e. self-medication.
Lifestyle factors that can increase the risk of CVD include:
Smoking
Poor diet
Excessive alcohol consumption
Drug-taking
what was the aim of Williams et al. (2000) study
To investigate the relationship between anger and heart disease.
what was the procedure of Williams et al. (2000) study
Approximately 13,000 people completed a 10-question anger scale, which asked questions about levels of hot-headedness, if they felt like hitting someone when they got angry, or whether they got annoyed when not given recognition for doing good work.
None of the participants suffered from heart disease at the outset of the study.
what were the findings of Williams et al. (2000) study
Six years later the health of the participants was assessed.
256 of the 13,000 participants had experienced heart attacks.
Those who had achieved the highest scores on the anger scale were over 2½ times more likely to have had a heart attack than those with the lowest anger ratings.
Participants who achieved a ‘moderate’ score on the anger scale were 36% more likely to experience a coronary event than those with lower ratings.
what were the conclusions Williams et al. (2000) study
This research suggests that sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity is closely related to cardiovascular disorders.
Explain the difficulty of establishing a cause-effect relationship i.e. between stress and cardiovascular disorders, from this research.
Perhaps those with more sedentary jobs are more likely to experience stress and anger at work, this could also explain higher rates of CVD.
There are also indirect factors such as behaviours adopted in response to stress that in turn affect cardiovascular health e.g. smoking, drinking and drug-taking.
Stress levels amongst the participants were assessed using a self-report measure i.e. an anger scale (questionnaire).
If an individual has a tendency toward negative perceptions (i.e. remembering more unpleasant events than pleasant ones) this may lead to an exaggerated score on stress and illness measures.
Evaluation of the relationship between stress and CVDs (correlation research)
There are issues establishing cause and effect (i.e. it is difficult to determine if stress directly causes cardiovascular disorders)
It might be that the direct effects of stress i.e. over-activation of the stress pathways, combine with indirect effects in terms of lifestyle choices.
Evaluation of the relationship between stress and CVDs (individual differences)
Individual differences such as personality (e.g. Type A/B), age and gender have a part to play in terms of determining levels of vulnerability to developing CVDs through exposure to prolonged stress.
For example, research has found that the sympathetic branch of the ANS is more reactive in some individuals than others. These ‘hyperresponsive’ individuals respond to stress with greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate, leading to more damage to the cardiovascular system.
