Increased well-being reduces CVD risk factors, improves age-related vascular function
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Increased levels of well-being are associated with decreased CVD risk, hypertension and dyslipidemia, as well as improved age-related vascular function, researchers reported.
“Our findings are consistent with previous work showing that positive psychological states are associated with lower CVD risk and mortality,” Alison C. McLeishPhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Louisville, and colleagues wrote. “The present findings extend this concept by showing that assessments that capture both the hedonistic and eudemonic aspects of psychological well-being are robustly associated with not just future CVD risk and CVD outcomes but also with certain contemporaneous CVD risk factors.”
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For the cross-sectional HEAL study, McLeish and colleagues evaluated 719 adults aged 25 to 70 years (mean age, 49.5 years; 61% women; 77% white) in a middle- to low-income neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, to observe the association between psychological well-being and CVD risk factors.
Participants self-reported previous CVD events, which McLeish and colleagues defined as stroke/transient ischemic attack, carotid endarterectomy or angiography, stenting/carotid angioplasty, MI, angina/stable CAD/atherosclerosis, heart valve disease, heart flutter/atrial fibrillation, PCI and congestive HF, as well as risk factors, which included dyslipidemia/high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension/high BP, regular exercise of at least 10 minutes per session, BMI, obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) and smoking.
Researchers calculated the 10-year risk of CVD for participants without a history of CVD using the Framingham Risk Score.
Plasma lipid measurements were completed to measure total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL and VLDL.
Waveform analysis was utilized to calculate aortic augmentation index.
To assess psychological well-being, researchers had participants complete a Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) that measured positive affect, fulfilling interpersonal relationships and positive functioning.
Researchers found a negative association between WEMWBS well-being scores and levels of dyslipidemia (OR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.85), hypertension (OR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63-0.92), triglycerides (mean difference, –7.55; 95% CI, –14.31 to –0.78; P < .029) and VLDL (mean difference, –0.93; 95% CI, –1.71 to –0.16; P < .018).
Higher well-being scores were also associated with lower total cholesterol to HDL ratio (mean difference, –3.92; 95% CI, –6.07 to –1.73; P < .001), higher HDL (mean difference, 1.6 mg/dL; 95% CI, 0.46-2.75), lower Framingham Risk Scores (mean difference, –7.08%; 95% CI, –10.84 to –3.16) and lower levels of age-related arterial stiffness, according to the researchers.
“Our results indicate a robust association between well-being and important CVD risk factors that calls for further investigation,” McLeish and colleagues wrote. “Additional research, particularly longitudinal designs, will be useful in better understanding associations between well-being and CVD, including ways that improving well-being may provide protective or mediating effects.”
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