Stress May be Behind Unexplained Cardiac Arrest
(NY, Reuters Health, 6/9/05)

Dr. Richard D. Lane of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and team, interviewed 25 adults an average of 5 years after they had suffered unexplained ventricular fibrillation (VF) and a comparison group of patients who had experienced heart attack or chest pain due to a known cause, poor blood flow to the heart. Over half of the patients whose cardiac event went unexplained recall having undergone acute stress in the 6 months prior to their cardiac arrest. These findings suggest that stressful emotions may precipitate heart attacks. The scientists speculate that in patients with unexplained VF, the emotional stress may trigger such extreme physiological reactions because of an undetected genetic predisposition to heart arrhythmias.

(Psychosomatic Medicine, May/June 2005)