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Article Psychological factors and coronary heart disease

Article Psychological Factors and Coronary Heart Disease

Hi Ramon,

You might be aware of the work by Johan K. Denollet, who has published several contributions on the subject you are looking for. Johan has focused on the trait known as distressed personality type in post-infarction, heart failure, cardiovascular risk ....

I am proud to have co-authored a paper on prognostic relevance of distress after myocrdial infarction in the Lancet.

Let me know if you find what you look for.

best regards,

Thierry

Hi, Ali, 

Many thanks for your contribution. In fact, the article that you have attached concerns the etiological and prognosis perspective.

May be I didn't explain well the issue I want to explore: my interest concerns persons who have been affected by severe coronary problems and have been intervened also chirurgically since their young age. Therefor, my question is not on how e.g. depression or distress could have played a role in the development of their sickness, but, the opposite way around:  could have their illness and related impairments history modulated specific personality traits? 

I'm trying to understand if those patients, who early in their lives and for many years have been struggling with their severe heart diseases,  including frequent stays in hospitals, in communication with nurses, doctors and surgeons are incline to develop specific (positive or negative) personality traits, maybe a way of skeptic resilience, a certain stye in modulating their expectations and even certain traits in their relationships with their family, with society or particular way of coping with life an with its day to day challenges.

I'm now confronted with the narrative of one of these patients, a remarkable piece of writing, and I wonder if there are studies about this kind of experience and the psychological profile laying behind, if any, that could be considered as produced or influenced by the life long living with these kind of conditions.

I'm preparing an analysis on the subject for a professional Spanish Journal dealing with disability and chronic conditions issues, taking depart on the written narrative of a living emblematic patient - writer.

Best regards

Ramón

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Hi, Thierry,

Many thanks for referring to the works of Johan K. Denollet, in fact I was not aware of his publications, neither about yours. Nonetheless I have now found one of his articles (2012): Depression and distressed personality: what is their impact on cardiovascular outcomes? 

Again, it addresses the behavioral risk factors. As you probably has seen in my reply to Ali A R Aldallal, what I'm trying to find is if there are findings concerning personality traits of patients with an early and long struggle with their coronary disease and the medical intervention experienced.

If in the process of your research you have found any essays or findings from this perspective, I would be very grateful.

Best regards

Ramón

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456.5835&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Hi Ramon,

It indeed is about stable traits and their influence on cardiovascular outcome. 

If you are interested in effects of disease on mood rather than personality, I would suggest to directly contact Johan Denollet at [email protected]. 

Best regards,

Thanks, Thierry! I'll do and i'll read your joint article in Lancet 

Have a good day!

Ramón 

Hi Thierry,

I have read with great interest your article and it has given to me some useful hints to analyse the fiction written by a CHD patient where the main character is in fact one patient who manifests some of the traits of type-D personality you have investigated as predictor of long-term mortality. 

But I wrote to Johan Denollet in order to get some of his publications concerning effects of disease on mood, but I didn't get a reply yet.

Best regards

Ramón

Life Event, Stress and Illness

Mohd. Razali Salleh

Abstract

The relationship between stress and illness is complex. The susceptibility to stress varies from person to person. Among the factors that influenced the susceptibility to stress are genetic vulnerability, coping style, type of personality and social support. Not all stress has negative effect. Studies have shown that short-term stress boosted the immune system, but chronic stress has a significant effect on the immune system that ultimately manifest an illness. It raises catecholamine and suppressor T cells levels, which suppress the immune system. This suppression, in turn raises the risk of viral infection. Stress also leads to the release of histamine, which can trigger severe broncho-constriction in asthmatics. Stress increases the risk for diabetes mellitus, especially in overweight individuals, since psychological stress alters insulin needs. Stress also alters the acid concentration in the stomach, which can lead to peptic ulcers, stress ulcers or ulcerative colitis. Chronic stress can also lead to plaque buildup in the arteries (atherosclerosis), especially if combined with a high-fat diet and sedentary living. The correlation between stressful life events and psychiatric illness is stronger than the correlation with medical or physical illness. The relationship of stress with psychiatric illness is strongest in neuroses, which is followed by depression and schizophrenia. There is no scientific evidence of a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the immune system changes and the development of cancer. However, recent studies found a link between stress, tumour development and suppression of natural killer (NK) cells, which is actively involved in preventing metastasis and destroying small metastases.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341916/