Chronic stress may be quietly reshaping your heart

Chronic inflammation tied to stress, lifestyle, mental health, and socioeconomic conditions may silently change the heart for years before any symptoms appear. People with the highest inflammation levels faced a 43% greater risk of heart attack and stroke, raising hopes that earlier testing and anti-inflammatory treatments could help prevent serious heart disease. Chronic stress may be quietly reshaping your heart.

That conclusion comes from a study of nearly half a million adults in the UK, led by researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London. The researchers believe it is the largest study of its kind. Their findings suggest that chronic inflammation, which is associated with lifestyle and socioeconomic circumstances, may contribute to harmful changes in the heart’s structure.

It was also linked to a greater risk of heart attack and stroke. Importantly, these changes may begin years before a person notices any cardiovascular symptoms, allowing the damage to build silently over time. Hidden Inflammation May Change the Heart Professor Declan O’Regan, British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular AI at Imperial College London and Head of the Computational Cardiac Imaging Group at the LMS, said: "Our study, which is the largest of its kind, suggests that millions of people could be living with hidden inflammation, which is slowly changing their heart and causing long-term damage – increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.