There are many people who suffer from anxiety, but few know the serious consequences that this brings to the heart: what you need to know.
We all happen to experience anxiety during our lives, perhaps increasing over a period following some concrete concerns.
But there are cases, though, where anxiety becomes one constant of everyday life to the point of affecting different areas of life, making it almost impossible to move forward without feeling bad. Unfortunately, anxiety is not good for health at all and can even cause heart problems.
Anxiety and the heart: how anxiety damages the heart and natural remedies
Anxietyas mentioned just before, it is an emotional reaction normal in times of stress. When anxiety becomes excessive and persistent over time, however, we speak of a real and own trouble, which can have negative impacts on physical and mental health. Chronic anxiety, among other things, actually can damage the heart. When we’re anxious, our body produces adrenaline, which increases our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. These reactions, continued over time, can have serious consequences.
Anxiety can cause several pathologies and dysfunctions, including:
- Hypertension: Prolonged increase in blood pressure can damage blood vessels and coronary arteries, leading to ischemic heart disease and stroke
- Arrhythmia: Anxiety can disturb the normal heart rhythm and cause palpitations, tachycardia and arrhythmia
- heart attack: in severe cases chronic anxiety can unfortunately become a risk factor for myocardial infarction, due to accelerated atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction of blood vessels
- Angina pectoris: Prolonged high heart rate can lead to the development of angina, chest pain due to reduced blood supply to the heart muscle
Fortunately, there are several situations that can be used to ease anxiety, so that you can go back to living as relaxed as possible.
In addition to medical therapies which are often heavy to deal with, there are effective natural remedies to keep anxiety under control and limit damage to the heart, among which we find:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: has proven to be very effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders, as it teaches techniques to manage obsessive thoughts, change bad mental habits and deal with situations that trigger anxiety
- Meditation, yoga and breathing techniques: meditation teaches you to observe your thoughts in a detached way, instead of identifying with them; while yoga and deep breathing exercises help release muscle tension, relax the mind and calm anxiety
- Relaxing herbal teas: drinking herbal teas such as chamomile, lemon balm, hawthorn and valerian helps reduce anxiety thanks to their sedative and relaxing properties
