Anxiety elevates cardiometabolic risk over time in men
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Higher levels of anxiety were linked to increases in cardiometabolic risk biomarkers over time in men, researchers reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“While the participants were primarily white men, our findings indicate higher levels of anxiousness or worry among men are linked to biological processes that may give rise to heart disease and metabolic conditions, and these associations may be present much earlier in life than is commonly appreciated — potentially during childhood or young adulthood,” Lewina Lee, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and an investigator and clinical psychologist at the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Boston, said in a press release.
The analysis included 1,561 men (mean age, 53 years at baseline; 97% white) from the Normative Aging Study who in 1975 were free from CVD or cancer and completed assessments of neuroticism and worry.
After baseline, participants had physical exams and blood tests every 3 to 5 years until death, dropout or the end of the study in 2015.
Cardiometabolic risks
At each visit, participants had the following cardiometabolic factors measured: systolic BP, diastolic BP, total cholesterol, triglycerides, obesity as determined by BMI, fasting blood glucose levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
High risk for each cardiometabolic factor was defined as exceeding the cut points from national guidelines or taking medication related to that factor. For erythrocyte sedimentation rate, for which there is no universal definition of high risk, those in the top quartile were considered high risk.
In the overall cohort, from age 33 to 65 years, cardiometabolic risk markers increased an average of 0.8 per decade, reaching 3.8 by age 65 years, whereas after age 65 years, risk markers increased an average of 0.5 per decade, Lee and colleagues wrote.
Elevated levels of neuroticism (beta = 0.08; 95% CI, 0.02-0.15) and worry (beta = 0.07; 95% CI, 0.001-0.13) were linked to greater cardiometabolic risk markers over time, according to the researchers.
After adjustment for demographic characteristics and family history of heart disease, those with elevated levels of neuroticism had a 13% greater risk of being high risk on at least six cardiometabolic risk markers (95% CI, 1.03-1.23), and those with elevated levels of worry had a 10% greater risk (95% CI, 1.01-1.2), Lee and colleagues wrote.
‘Pay greater attention’
“We found that cardiometabolic disease risk increased as men aged, from their 30s into their 80s, irrespective of anxiety levels, while men who had higher levels of anxiety and worry consistently had a higher likelihood of developing cardiometabolic disease over time than those with lower levels of anxiety or worry,” Lee said in the release. “While we do not know whether treatment of anxiety and worry may lower one’s cardiometabolic risk, anxious and worry-prone individuals should pay greater attention to their cardiometabolic health. For example, by having routine health checkups and being proactive in managing their cardiometabolic disease risk levels (such as taking medications for high blood pressure and maintaining a healthy weight), they may be able to decrease their likelihood of developing cardiometabolic disease.”
Reference:
- Men who worry more may develop heart disease and diabetes risk factors at younger ages. newsroom.heart.org/news/men-who-worry-more-may-develop-heart-disease-and-diabetes-risk-factors-at-younger-ages. Published Jan. 24, 2022. Accessed Jan. 24, 2022.
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