For ten years, Dr Elaine D Eaker of Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises in Chili, Wisconsin, and team, tracked 3,682 adult participants in the Framingham Offspring Study.
The investigators rated the subjects’ degree of tension and anxiety based on their answers to a brief series of yes-or-no questions.
The scientists defined anxiety as a more physical syndrome, manifesting in such symptoms as fatigue, dizziness and a pounding heart; whereas, they characterized tension more generally as difficulty relaxing, restlessness, nervousness and feelings of tension.
The researchers found that, for men, tension was associated with heart disease, arrhythmias and death; while, for women, anxiety increased the risk of de ath in general.
These findings suggest that feelings of stress can be as life threatening as physical disease.