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Worrying can take a toll on your psyche, but new research suggests that when middle-aged men fret too much, they face a higher risk for developing diabetes, heart disease or stroke down the road.
And this increase in risk is on par with the health risks linked to heavy drinking, the findings showed.
"Our findings suggest that anxiety is linked to unhealthy biological processes that pave the way to developing heart disease and diabetes in men," said study author Lewina Lee. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and a clinical research psychologist at the National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder of the VA Boston Healthcare System.
Taking steps to improve mental health may help lower risks for heart disease and diabetes, Lee added.
The study included more than 1,550 men (aged 53, on average), who took part in the Normative Aging Study. These men didn't have any major diseases at the beginning of the study. The researchers looked at seven biological risk factors — including blood pressure, cholesterol, blood fats known as triglycerides, body mass index, blood sugar and a marker for inflammation — every three to five years until the men died or dropped out of the study.
A risk was considered elevated if the test results were higher than cut-off points in national guidelines, or the men were taking medication to control it. Men received one point for each elevated risk factor. They also answered standard questionnaires that measure anxiety and worry when the study began.
Men who reported higher levels of anxiety had a 10% to 13% greater chance of reaching high biological risk for heart disease, stroke or diabetes during the 40-year follow-up period, the researchers found.
The study wasn't designed to say how worry and anxiety increase risks for disease, but worriers were more likely to smoke, consume alcohol and not exercise regularly.
Read more- https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-01-24/worries-may-raise-mens-heart-risks-even-when-young