More Americans suffer heart problems due to terror stress

More Americans suffer heart problems due to terror stress
More Americans suffer heart problems because of stress and fear about terrorism after 9/11, according to a new study.
Heart problems are common even among those who have no personal connection to the attacks, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of California in Irvine (UCI).
UCI researchers linked psychological stress responses to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to a 53 percent increase in heart problems -- including high blood pressure and stroke -- in the three years after Sept. 11, 2001, said the study published on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.
It was the first study to show the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on cardiac health.
Most of those surveyed watched the attacks on live television, and one-third had no personal connection to them. Most of them had no preexisting heart problems, and the results persisted even when risk factors such as high cholesterol, smoking and obesity were taken into account, according to the study.
"It seems that the 9/11 attacks were so potent that media exposure helped to convey enough stress that people responded in away that contributed to their cardiovascular problems," Alison Holman, an assistant professor of nursing science at UCI and the study's lead researcher, said.
The three-year study took a random nationwide survey of more than 1,500 adults whose health information had been recorded before the terror attacks.
Researchers then asked participants about their stress responses in the weeks after the attacks and issued yearly follow-up questions ending in late 2004, said the study.
Chronic worriers -- those who continued to fear terrorism for several years after the attacks -- were the most at risk of heart problems, said the study.