How Stress Affects Your Heart

How stress can negatively affect your heart.

Unfortunately, stress is an unavoidable part of everyday life.  While most people can find ways to manage their stress, there are times where extreme stress reactions can wreak havoc on the body.  In fact, constant exposure to stress can create heart problems.  To understand how stress has the potential to affect your heart, please read on.

When you become stressed, the arteries running through your body actually constrict, reducing the amount of blood that reaches the heart.  This also drives up the person's blood pressure, making them more likely to suffer from devastating problems such as stroke.

Stress can also have less obvious effects on the heart.  For instance, some people's reactions to stress can end up causing heart problems.  Many people turn to cigarettes or alcohol to cope with overwhelming feelings of stress.  Both of these bad habits can put a strain on the heart.  Another common stress reaction is overeating and, because most people tend to binge on unhealthy food, continued overeating can lead to weight gain, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and other issues that put pressure on the heart.  Finally, stress can contribute to a debilitating cycle of insomnia and lack of energy.  Not getting enough sleep puts the body at risk for a number of ailments.  Not having the energy to maintain an active lifestyle also cause major health issues that weaken the heart.

This is how stress affects your heart health.  Want to take care of your health?  If so, then make sure you have the right health insurance in place.  For assistance with all your coverage needs, contact the experts at Scavone Insurance Agency Center LLC in White Plains, New York.  We are ready to assist you with all your coverage needs today.