View article

In this review, we summarize evidence on the risk factor psychological stress in the context of coronary heart disease (CHD) in humans and explore the role of inflammation as a potential underlying mechanism.

While chronic stress increases the risk of incident CHD and poor cardiovascular prognosis, acute emotional stress can trigger acute CHD events in vulnerable patients. Evidence supporting a potential role for inflammation as a promising biological mechanism comes from population-based studies showing associations between chronic stress and increased inflammation. Similarly, experimental studies demonstrate acute stress-induced increases in inflammatory markers and suggest modulatory potential for pharmacological and biobehavioral interventions. So far, studies investigating patients with …