Here's something interesting that your intuition may have told you:
Reduce stress to prevent second heart attack
At the beginning of February, which is American Heart Month in the US and Heart Month in Canada, a new report shows how stress management, along with physical activity and healthy eating, serves as a lifestyle choice that may prevent heart disease.
STUDY: In Sweden, 362 men and women discharged from the hospital after a coronary heart disease event within the previous 12 months participated in a randomized controlled clinical trial. About half (170 people) received traditional care and 192 patients received traditional care plus cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The CBT therapy-consisting of education, self-monitoring, skills training, cognitive restructuring and spiritual development-was delivered in 20 two-hour sessions over one year.
FINDINGS: During an average 94 months of follow-up, people in the CBT group had a 41% lower rate of both fatal and non-fatal heart events, 45% fewer recurrent heart attacks and a non-significantly lower rate of death (28%) than patients in the traditional care group. Attending a higher proportion of the therapy sessions was associated with a further reduction in risk.
COMMENT: "These results imply that, to affect cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease end points, the interventions need to be long-term (possibly six to 12 months), be conducted in groups and include specific techniques for altering behavior," the authors wrote.... "This demonstrates the potential efficacy of adding CBT to secondary preventive programs after acute myocardial infarction [heart attack] for better patient adherence to treatment and better outcome."
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 171[2]:134-140 (January 24, 2011)
