Stress and Heart Attack

[Noise - Citizens Against <cg343@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 This "hot" story is running rampant on the wires and should make it to 
your local/national newspaper/TV station shortly.

GOOD NEWS:  Most of the list members know that noise can be a powerful 
stressor. Hopefully the general public will begin to understand the 
importance of reducing stress.

BAD NEWS:  There is no mention of the sources of stress. Last week an 
article ran in our infamous "national" newspaper, the Globe and Mail 
which was entitled "Scars from stress cut deep in workplace" (Oct 9, B16). 
Not one word was mentioned about noise.

CCAN has learned that our best weapon in this war against noise is to 
make a link between noise and our health. It will now be our task to raise 
the public's awareness of just how much a potential stressor noise can be.



           Top News: Stress Increases Heart Risk

CHICAGO (AP) -- While dieting right and giving up smoking are keys in
reducing the risk of heart attacks, a new study says patients can't ignore
the importance of managing stress. A stress-management program helped
heart patients reduce their risk of heart attacks or the need for surgery
by 74 percent, researchers reported in the Oct. 27 issue of the American
Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine. "In addition to diet,
quitting smoking and controlling blood pressure, you need to think about
managing stress"  to avert potentially fatal heart problems, said James
Blumenthal, a professor of medical psychology at Duke University Medical
Center and the lead researcher. All 107 patients studied showed impaired
blood flow to the heart during mental stress tests or during normal daily
activities when they wore heart monitors. Such impaired blood flow, called
ischemia, is known to worsen the outlook for heart patients, Blumenthal
said. Among the estimated 11 million Americans with heart disease, 50
percent to 60 percent are believed to develop ischemia under mental
stress, he said, and 40 percent to 50 percent during normal daily
activities. Though many studies have linked emotional stress with an
increased risk of heart attacks, this is one of the first to report that
stress reduction can actually reduce the risk, said Richard Sloan,
coordinator of the behavioral medical program at Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center in New York. 
 


 Eric Greenspoon 
  Vice President - Citizens' Coalition Against Noise


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