Psychological Stress, Inflammation, and Coronary Heart Disease.

Abstract in brief

• Psychological stress is linked to a higher risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and can worsen outcomes, with chronic stress increasing the risk of disease and acute emotional stress triggering heart events in vulnerable individuals.
• Inflammation is believed to be a key biological mechanism connecting stress and CHD, supported by studies showing that both chronic stress and acute stress can raise inflammatory markers in the body.
• While initial research suggests that stress increases inflammation and may lead to CHD, more studies are needed, especially on how exactly stress causes this chain of events and whether reducing stress could lower inflammation and heart disease risk.]