Stress and Heart Disease: What You Need to Know

From financial concerns to health issues and family quarrels, there are plenty of things in life to stress a person out. Experiencing tension, nervousness, and frustration on occasion are common and expected. However, feeling overwhelmed with stress on the regular is not only unhealthy for your mind, but it’s incredibly bad for your heart. 

Chronic stress like this can lead to all sorts of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and reduced immunity. With a large percentage of older adults who feel chronic stress, it’s crucial to be proactive about managing it.

Here is everything to know about how chronic stress affects your heart health.

How Stress Impacts Your Heart 

Stress isn’t only a concern for our emotional and mental health. It can cause concerning physical responses too such as headaches, muscle tension, and digestive issues. Stress can also lead to high blood pressure, inflammation, and poor lifestyle choices like abusing drugs or alcohol, over or undereating, and being sedentary. This can all lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease that can weaken or damage the heart.

5 Ways Seniors Can Alleviate Stress 

Don’t let stress overtake your health and happiness! Try the strategies below, inspired from an article from Mayo Clinic, Stress Relievers: Tips to Tame Stress:

1. Exercise or Get Active: Moving your body physically is a great way to keep your mind distracted from stress and focused on movement. Any form of activity is good activity–a relaxing walk, gardening, going for a swim, and cleaning your house are all ideas for ways to stay active. 
2. Eat Healthy: Be mindful of what you eat. Foods shown to reduce stress include whole grains, poultry, fish, fruits, and veggies. Avoid consuming caffeine, sugary foods, and alcohol.
3. Identify Your Triggers: Many things can cause us to feel stressed. It’s important to understand your triggers and take steps to cope with them properly.
4. Relax More: Try to promote a calmer environment by practicing relaxation techniques. There are so many to choose from; find the ones that work best for you. Some good relaxation techniques for older adults are meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, practicing gratitude, and mindfulness.
5. Seek Professional Help: Never be ashamed or embarrassed to ask for help. If you’re feeling stressed, hopeless, or overwhelmed for long periods of time, book an appointment with a mental health professional. 

Finding Stress Relief with Visiting Angels of Wilkes-Barre

Stress doesn’t have to control you, your life, or your well-being. Visiting Angels of Wilkes-Barre, PA, can help seniors mitigate some of the stress that comes with aging and home upkeep with compassionate companion care services. Our in-home caregivers are a wonderful source of socialization and emotional support. They can also help with light housekeeping, medication management, transportation, meal planning and preparation, and other non-medical tasks. 

Contact us today at 570-270-6700 to learn more.