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(Hypertension. 2007;49:268.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentaries

Stopping Stress at Its Origins

Richard V. Milani; Carl J. Lavie

From the Department of Cardiology, Section of Preventive Cardiology, Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, La.

Correspondence to Richard V. Milani, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, 1514 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, LA 70121. E-mail rmilani@ochsner.org

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

We know that the vasomotor system, which regulates the capillary circulation, is much influenced by the mind.

—Charles Darwin, Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

The practice of medicine today is in need of transformation. The majority of diseases plaguing modern society are initiated by unhealthy lifestyle choices or events, often taking many years to develop and mature to a stage where symptoms and signs become manifest. It is only at this typically advanced stage that the healthcare system initially becomes engaged. Although many diagnoses share a common lifestyle-related etiology, we treat the silos of diagnoses with a growing list of pharmacotherapies, each targeting a single disease process, or invasively with repeated and often palliative procedures such as stents or bypass surgeries. Verbal recommendations are generally provided to our patients to curb poor lifestyle habits, but minimal investment is put forward by the healthcare industry to create an environment where successful lifestyle change can be effected. Of the many lifestyle events that impact our patients, none is more ubiquitous than stress and stress-related conditions.

The global impact of stress-related conditions is expected to rise over this decade such that by 2020, depression and anxiety disorders, including stress-related health conditions, will be second only to ischemic heart disease in prevalence.¹ Although stress can occur at home or after trauma, the most ubiquitous and studied form of stress is work related. In this context, stress has been defined as an emotional experience associated with nervousness, tension, and strain.^2,3 In the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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