Location
Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de MontréalCategory
CardiologySummary
According to recent data from Statistics Canada, heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death in women and the 2nd leading cause in men. Heart disease occurs when arteries in the heart are blocked and can lead to chest pain (angina) or myocardial infarction (MI). The development of heart disease is multifactorial in nature and involves psychological risk factors, including psychological stress. One plausible mechanism through which psychological stress may be linked to heart disease is increased clotting of the blood. This study aims to identify how psychological stress increases clumping, or clotting, of the blood, and to identify whether physiological responses to psychological stress are related to the development of heart disease in the future or to future heart events in those who already have heart disease. It also aims to examine sex differences in stress-induced coagulation responses.
This study will help explain mechanisms linking psychological stress to heart disease and explain how these mechanisms may differ between the sexes. In turn, these mechanisms may be the targets of future interventions to reduce the prevalence of this clinically important disease.
Geneviève Szczepanik, Project coordinator
514-338-2222 ext. 7819
genevieve.szczepanik@mbmc-cmcm.ca
Fonds de la Recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS)
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (Québec)
- Plourde A, Lavoie KL, Ouellet K, Carroll D, Ring C, Bacon SL. (2013). Hemodynamic, haemostatic, and endothelial reactions to acute psychological stress in depressed patients following coronary angiography. Psychophysiology, 50: 790-798.