Stress linked to increased heart risk in women

Women with high psychosocial stress show early heart changes linked to cardiovascular disease, with no similar association in men, a recent study has found.

The findings support sex-specific effects of stress on cardiovascular health and suggest that risk assessment should include psychosocial factors and mental wellbeing.

Judy Luu is assistant professor at the Division of Clinical and Translational Research at McGill Faculty of Medicine.

She said: “From an epidemiological point of view, we have known for about two decades that stress is an important risk factor in cardiovascular health for people born female.

“But with this research stream, we’re really aiming to understand how stress physiologically impacts the heart.”

Cardiac MRI measures T1 and T2 in heart muscle, signals related to tissue composition and water; higher values can indicate early disease.

The study, conducted by researchers from McGill and Concordia universities in Canada, examined MRI heart scans of 219 adults aged 43 to 65, about half of whom were female.

The scans assessed T1 and T2 markers linked to early cardiac disease.

Participants were divided into two groups: those with at least one cardiovascular risk factor (such as diabetes, hypertension or smoking) but no heart disease, and healthy controls.

In both groups, women reporting high psychosocial stress had significantly higher T1 values than low-stress women.

T2 was also higher in the at-risk group only. No significant differences were seen between high- and low-stress men.

She added that the sex differences observed are not only a social question, but also a biological question.

Luu said: “Research points to the fact that there are biological differences in the way females physically handle stress.”

The next phase of the research will focus on blood markers and other biological explanations, such as hormones.

The team hopes the work can lead to better interventions to advance women’s heart health.