Men with too much worry may develop heart disease and diabetes at a young age

"While the participants were predominantly white males, our findings suggest that higher levels of anxiety or worry among males are associated with biological processes that may contribute to heart disease and metabolic conditions, and that these links may be much earlier than is commonly believed.

To track the relationship between anxiety and cardiometabolic disease risk factors, the researchers analyzed data from participants in the Standard Aging Study

Neuroticism is a character trait characterized by a tendency to interpret situations as threatening, stressful, and/or overwhelming

After the baseline assessment, the men had physicals and blood tests every 3-5 years until they died or dropped out of the study

A risk factor for cardiometabolic disease was considered to be in the high-risk range if the test result for a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease was above the cut-off set by national guidelines, or if the participant took any medication to control the risk factor (eg, cholesterol-lowering drugs)

"Having six or more high-risk cardiometabolic markers indicates that a person is likely or has developed cardiometabolic disease,

The researchers found:

• The mean number of cardiometabolic risk factors increased by about 1 per 10 years between the ages of 33 and 65, by an average of 3.

  
  

• At all ages, participants with higher neuroticism had more cardiometabolic risk factors

  
  

• After adjusting for demographic characteristics (such as income and education) and family history of heart disease, high neuroticism was associated with a 13 percent higher likelihood of having six or more cardiometabolic disease risk factors

  
  

• After adjusting for demographic characteristics, higher levels of worry were associated with a 10% increased likelihood of having six or more cardiometabolic disease risk factors

  
  

"We found that men at increased risk of metabolic disease disease increased with age, from their 30s to their 80s, regardless of anxiety level, while men had higher levels of anxiety and worry that they had been developing metabolic disease disease over time, and more Higher odds than those with lower levels of anxiety or worry," Lee said

The researchers had no data on whether participants were diagnosed with anxiety disorders

"While we don't know whether treating anxiety and worry reduces a person's cardiometabolic risk, people with anxiety and worry tendencies should pay more attention to their cardiometabolic health

It is unclear to what extent the results of this analysis apply to the public, as the study participants were all male and almost all white

"It will be important for future research to assess if these women's associations exist, people from different racial and ethnic groups, and more socioeconomically diverse samples, and to consider how anxiety might be associated with risk of developing metabolic disease in younger people than in younger people.

Co-authors are Kevin J.

This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, both divisions of the National Institutes of Health
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