Stress has become the most blamed culprit of ailments in the 21st century. Whenever I meet an acquaintance these days, within a few minutes we would start to complain about our individual stressors. It is a popular belief that stress causes high blood pressure and it can kill.

A paper published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Nielsen et al 2009) earlier this year suggested that stress is more likely to kill men than women! The study compared 5,428 men and 6,700 women from 1981-1983 for 22 years. Although the study was done among a predominantly Caucasian population (Copenhagen, Denmark), we can learn some important facts about the effects of stress on men.

What is stress

The study defined stress as a sensation of tension, nervousness, impatience, anxiety or sleeplessness. Intense stress may result from death of a loved one or a major disaster. Prolonged or repeated stress arises from dysfunctional relationships at home or work, unemployment and poor finances. Mental and physical illnesses produce their own stresses.

High stress kills men

In this study, 10 per cent of the women and six per cent of the men reported high stress. High stress was associated with more deaths in men than in women. Perceived high stress increased the risk of death in general as well as the risk of death by specific causes. The study did not identify any clear association between stress and deaths in women.

Diseases associated with stress

The study demonstrated that cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke were associated with high stress in men and women. Among men, high stress was linked with death by respiratory diseases such as pneumonia. Highly stressed individuals were more likely to die suddenly. Also being highly stressed was more frequently linked with an uncertain cause of death. Highly stressed men were more likely to die by external causes such as accidents, suicide and assaults. Here in Jamaica, our high murder rate among men may be related to the raised psychological distress in our population.

Stress kills young, healthy men

This study also suggested that younger men (under age 55) were more likely to die if they were highly stressed than did older men. These younger men had twice as much chance of dying from heart attacks than the older men. The study was intriguing because it suggested that healthy men defined as non-smokers, physically active and with normal weights and blood pressures were more likely die from high stress than the entire group. This was also true for the more highly educated men in the group.

Perceived stress seems to increase the risk of death overall for men more than for women. This is particularly true for deaths from respiratory illnesses, external causes and unclear circumstances. In this European study, men with high stress were more likely to commit suicide. High stress was associated with a doubling in the risk of heart attacks among younger, healthier men. Let us learn from this study!

Dr Pauline Williams-Green is a family physician and president of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.