Stress, hostility and depression may increase the risk for stroke. [s]Medicinenet[/s] reports that this is according to a study that found that depression seemed to raise the risk of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) by 86%. It also found that stress apparently raised stroke or TIA risk by 59%. And hostility doubled the risk, the researchers said.
However, the report says, it is important to note that the study only found an association between the risk of stroke and negative emotions. It wasn’t designed to prove that negative emotions can cause strokes. Still, ‘chronic stress and negative emotions are important psychological factors that affect one's health, and findings from this study link these factors to brain health in particular,’ said the study’s lead author, Susan Everson-Rose, an associate professor of medicine at the [b]University of Minnesota[/b].
[link url=http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=179444]Full Medicinenet report[/link]
[link url=http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2014/07/10/STROKEAHA.114.004815.abstract?sid=fb6031c7-f416-4163-9316-90bdedd3a8da]Stroke abstract[/link]