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ANGER, DEPRESSION & HEART DISEASE/C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVELS

As a construction engineer, Ellie Ray is constantly juggling numerous projects at once. With tight deadlines, Ellie says the pressure can make his blood boil.
“Situations would get very heated. We have a pressure schedule to meet, you had to multi-task in a big way to make it work, and that would make it stressful,” says Ellie Ray.

As a construction engineer, Ellie Ray is constantly juggling numerous projects at once. With tight deadlines, Ellie says the pressure can make his blood boil. It is this stress that could lead to heart disease.

“Situations would get very heated. We have a pressure schedule to meet, you had to multi-task in a big way to make it work, and that would make it stressful,” says Ellie Ray.
And that stress finally caught up with Ellie. “Symptoms were shortness of breath, chest pain whenever I would extend my activity.”

After a round of tests, Ellie just 50 years old, was shocked when doctors told him he had 5 blockages in his heart. He would need catheterization to open up the blockages and intense cardiac rehab. Ellie had no major family history of heart disease. He falls into a new risk category which researchers at Duke University are studying.

“We found that among non-diabetic, healthy individuals, that measure of anger, hostility, and severity of depressive symptoms were associated with a protein called c-reactive protein which is been shown to predict the risk of heart disease in initially healthy people,” explains Dr. Edward Suarez of Duke University.

C-reactive protein, which is measured by a blood test, is produced by the liver in response to inflammation and inflammation has been shown to underlie the plaque that forms inside arteries as they clog. People with traditional risk factors for heart disease, obesity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and sedentary lifestyles, have elevated crp levels. And according to data, fifty percent of all heart attacks occur among people without any traditional risk factors.

“An argument with our wife, our husband, our employees, our co-workers, and all of a sudden you feel your heart racing. Along with that increase in heart rate, there are also stress hormones that are being released, and those stress hormones are really I think an important key in initiating that inflammation,” says Dr. Suarez.

Dr. Suarez explains there is a strong mind body connection. Stress hormones are like a switch which once turned on kicks the inflammation process into gear…as a result, there is an increased production of c-reactive protein. Scientific evidence suggests that an increase in stress hormones can actually activate the inflammatory arm of the immune system and triggers the expression of genes that cause chronic, low-grade inflammation.

After his procedure, Ellie knew he had to change his stress level. He has since joined a stress management program which includes exercise, meditation and nutrition. “It’s a 180 degree, night and day difference. No shortness of breath now, my ability to exercise is elevated. I actually feel like I’m 20 years old again.”

Dr. Suarez has previously shown that hostile people, in New York and elsewhere, who exhibit symptoms of depression have higher levels of stress hormones and circulating levels of an inflammatory substance called interleukin 6, another marker of inflammation that has been shown to predict heart disease in initially healthy people.

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