Selected Podcast
Are Your Stress Levels Having an Impact on Your Heart
Kelli Goldsborough discusses the impact stress levels have on your heart.
Featured Speaker:
Kelli Goldsborough, CRNP
Kelli Goldsborough, CRNP, was born and raised in Southern Maryland. Kelli began her career as a nurse in 2001, and started as a FNP with UM Charles Regional Medical Group – Primary Care. in 2018, she attended College of Southern Maryland for her LPN certificate and then later her RN. She later went back to school, graduating from Walden University with a Masters in Nursing Leadership. Finally, she obtained her post-master’s certificate from Purdue University Global to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. She is married with five children. Transcription:
Are Your Stress Levels Having an Impact on Your Heart
Scott Webb: Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This episode is sponsored by UM Charles Regional Medical Center dedicated to offering acute healthcare and preventative services to generations of families in Charles County and surrounding communities. UM Charles Regional Medical Center providing excellent care in Southern Maryland for over 80 years. Joining me today is Kelli Goldsborough, Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with UM Charles Regional Medical Group. So Kelli, thanks so much for joining me today. I know in movies and television and other media, they portray moments of intense stress leading directly to heart attacks. And I was thinking back to watching Sanford and Son when I was a kid and Red Fox would clutch his chest and he would, you know, I'm having a big one, honey. I think that that's probably exaggerated. So wanted to have you just take us through this. Is the way stress and heart attacks are portrayed in the media, is that true? Is that how it really happens?
Kelli Goldsborough: Absolutely not. Let's start with things that lead to heart attacks. Stress is absolutely a known risk factor for the development or an exacerbation of heart disease and the relationship is complicated. A prolonged or a chronic stressed environment increases cortisol production, which in turn increases weight gain and blood pressure, and heart rate. It's these people that are type A and in a constant stressed, tense mood. That is how stress in those particular individuals can lead to heart disease, right? It's not the stress in general, it's what the stress does. Moving on, if somebody has an acute stress, a sudden death of a loved one or a catastrophic event like their house burns down or anything like that, that again, that sharp increase in the adrenaline, the cortisol, and if they already were in a position to develop heart disease or they had the quiet one starting. Again, these are the people that are going to end up having a sudden cardiac event.
Right. As far as how it's portrayed on TV. There is lots of research stating that your typical Caucasian male is going to present with, you know, the chest pain, the chest pressure, it goes down the left arm, up the left side of the neck, sweating, nausea, vomiting. Like it's a very textbook, you know, and once you've seen it, once you've, you've seen it and that's what it looks like. Women, it's the silent killer. Women may or may not have some pain in the back of the chest, probably behind the, between the shoulder blades. Maybe they feel like they got something stuck in their throat, almost like reflux. They develop like an ongoing cough. It's very atypical. It's hard to spot. And lot of times we find it on an EKG because they need to have surgery for something. And we did an EKG and Oh look, looks like you may have had a heart attack.
Host: Really interesting to know that it presents differently in men and women. Sometimes typical, sometimes atypical. I always find this amazing to me that that people can have had a heart event and not know it. I remember hearing about John Mellencamp, who was a heavy smoker and at some point they were like, Hey, when did you have your heart attack? And he said, what heart attack, what are you talking about? So I'd like you to dive into some of the research around the relationship between heart attacks and stress if you can.
Kelli Goldsborough: So the research is ongoing and I can't specifically name a specific study that's being done, but because of that cortisol and what that stress does to the body. It puts somebody in a position to not manage their stress well. I'm specifically referring to the chronic stress people, they smoke, they drink, they stop exercising, they develop depression. Just that unhealthy coping. And then obviously all of those things have a negative impact on your cardiovascular health.
Host: Absolutely. And in talking about those things, we're talking about those risk factors. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about how stress leads to those other risk factors so that, in other words, people are experiencing stress. So what do they do to deal with that? Do they smoke? Do they overeat? And then let's tie that into heart disease.
Kelli Goldsborough: Let's choose smoking. It's a known risk factor. It's a known contributor to the development of heart disease. It can lead to both lung illnesses and what I call vein illnesses. Atherosclerosis is the fancy term. It's plaguing of the veins and arteries. You are not able to breathe as well. Your activity level drops, you gain the weight, your cholesterol goes up, diabetes develops, you could get COPD, and obviously diabetes, you know, no one dies from diabetes. They die from the cardiovascular diseases that it causes. Excessive alcohol can lead to liver disease, which can lead to problems with your blood levels, specifically like platelets. And you don't have the ability to fight off common illnesses as well. And so now you've got the, I call it the perfect storm event. Your blood sugar is too high, your blood pressure's too high, your waistline is too big. Your ability to cope with the normal stressors that happen to a body. A cold suddenly becomes pneumonia, right? Which becomes a hospitalization. And then you're putting a bed and then you develop a clot. So you see how one thing can lead to the next thing and it becomes this negative loop.
Host: Yeah, I see how those, those dots can be connected. And you mentioned the stressors. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about chronic stress versus the day to day stressors that we all experience. How those relate to heart disease and heart attacks.
Kelli Goldsborough: So you have episodic stress, which is acute. You overdrew your money in your bank account. So you an unforeseen costs, you know, illness that was inconvenient, your caregiver and mom suddenly gets ill and you have to stop what you're doing to go take care of mom. Work is a huge stressor for lots of people. So those are all acute stresses, right? Like that's not the normal and you have to respond to those as they kind of come down the pike. Chronic stress is somebody who maybe responds inappropriately to those common stressors, right? Like so you're in a high stress job, you're dealing with lots and lots of money or lots and lots of demands from many places. Think higher management, it may be you are in finance. Finance, you know, is probably a huge stressor. Maybe you work in the ER and you're dealing with crisis after crisis for 12 hours a day, three to five days a week. The chronic stress comes from normal stresses that aren't dealt with appropriately. So if we have a nice healthy lifestyle, both mind and body, you know, you exercise, you eat well, you don't smoke, you don't drink to excess. When you are having a abnormally stressful day, you know what to do to kind of take yourself down from that high stress state. So when more stress comes, you can deal with it. It's the ability of the mind and the body to deal with the acute stress as it comes so that it doesn't become chronic.
Host: That's really a great way to put that, right? If we don't deal with the day to day stressors well, they become chronic and once they become chronic, it'd be much more difficult to deal with. So lastly here, Kelli, and thank you so much for joining me today and great information. Do you have any suggested methods for lowering stress levels? Like we know that stress is bad and that it can lead potentially to heart disease and heart attacks. So what do we do to lower the stresses that we're all feeling?
Kelli Goldsborough: Exercise is the best way to manage stress. It improves your mood through the release of endorphins, contributes to cardiovascular wellness. A person that regularly exercises is less likely to drink or smoke to access. It helps with the prevention of obesity related diseases. Again, going back to diabetes and when it's done regularly, it can actually delay the onset of other health conditions, which a person may be genetically predisposed to such as high cholesterol or hypertension, and it can decrease the burden of disease. So that means you're not down for as long. You get sick. You know, even with some more serious illnesses, you're not sick for as long. It's less medication. The next thing is a healthy well balanced diet. Don't overdo it on anything. There's all good things in balance.
Host: That's a great place to end. Balance is great. If we get that balance, we find that balance. Maybe we can avoid the acute day to day stressors. And then those things don't become chronic. And then chronic doesn't begin to persist and cause us to do bad things to ourselves, like smoking and all of that. Really great having you on today, Kelli. Great information. Thanks so much and thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.
Are Your Stress Levels Having an Impact on Your Heart
Scott Webb: Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This episode is sponsored by UM Charles Regional Medical Center dedicated to offering acute healthcare and preventative services to generations of families in Charles County and surrounding communities. UM Charles Regional Medical Center providing excellent care in Southern Maryland for over 80 years. Joining me today is Kelli Goldsborough, Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with UM Charles Regional Medical Group. So Kelli, thanks so much for joining me today. I know in movies and television and other media, they portray moments of intense stress leading directly to heart attacks. And I was thinking back to watching Sanford and Son when I was a kid and Red Fox would clutch his chest and he would, you know, I'm having a big one, honey. I think that that's probably exaggerated. So wanted to have you just take us through this. Is the way stress and heart attacks are portrayed in the media, is that true? Is that how it really happens?
Kelli Goldsborough: Absolutely not. Let's start with things that lead to heart attacks. Stress is absolutely a known risk factor for the development or an exacerbation of heart disease and the relationship is complicated. A prolonged or a chronic stressed environment increases cortisol production, which in turn increases weight gain and blood pressure, and heart rate. It's these people that are type A and in a constant stressed, tense mood. That is how stress in those particular individuals can lead to heart disease, right? It's not the stress in general, it's what the stress does. Moving on, if somebody has an acute stress, a sudden death of a loved one or a catastrophic event like their house burns down or anything like that, that again, that sharp increase in the adrenaline, the cortisol, and if they already were in a position to develop heart disease or they had the quiet one starting. Again, these are the people that are going to end up having a sudden cardiac event.
Right. As far as how it's portrayed on TV. There is lots of research stating that your typical Caucasian male is going to present with, you know, the chest pain, the chest pressure, it goes down the left arm, up the left side of the neck, sweating, nausea, vomiting. Like it's a very textbook, you know, and once you've seen it, once you've, you've seen it and that's what it looks like. Women, it's the silent killer. Women may or may not have some pain in the back of the chest, probably behind the, between the shoulder blades. Maybe they feel like they got something stuck in their throat, almost like reflux. They develop like an ongoing cough. It's very atypical. It's hard to spot. And lot of times we find it on an EKG because they need to have surgery for something. And we did an EKG and Oh look, looks like you may have had a heart attack.
Host: Really interesting to know that it presents differently in men and women. Sometimes typical, sometimes atypical. I always find this amazing to me that that people can have had a heart event and not know it. I remember hearing about John Mellencamp, who was a heavy smoker and at some point they were like, Hey, when did you have your heart attack? And he said, what heart attack, what are you talking about? So I'd like you to dive into some of the research around the relationship between heart attacks and stress if you can.
Kelli Goldsborough: So the research is ongoing and I can't specifically name a specific study that's being done, but because of that cortisol and what that stress does to the body. It puts somebody in a position to not manage their stress well. I'm specifically referring to the chronic stress people, they smoke, they drink, they stop exercising, they develop depression. Just that unhealthy coping. And then obviously all of those things have a negative impact on your cardiovascular health.
Host: Absolutely. And in talking about those things, we're talking about those risk factors. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about how stress leads to those other risk factors so that, in other words, people are experiencing stress. So what do they do to deal with that? Do they smoke? Do they overeat? And then let's tie that into heart disease.
Kelli Goldsborough: Let's choose smoking. It's a known risk factor. It's a known contributor to the development of heart disease. It can lead to both lung illnesses and what I call vein illnesses. Atherosclerosis is the fancy term. It's plaguing of the veins and arteries. You are not able to breathe as well. Your activity level drops, you gain the weight, your cholesterol goes up, diabetes develops, you could get COPD, and obviously diabetes, you know, no one dies from diabetes. They die from the cardiovascular diseases that it causes. Excessive alcohol can lead to liver disease, which can lead to problems with your blood levels, specifically like platelets. And you don't have the ability to fight off common illnesses as well. And so now you've got the, I call it the perfect storm event. Your blood sugar is too high, your blood pressure's too high, your waistline is too big. Your ability to cope with the normal stressors that happen to a body. A cold suddenly becomes pneumonia, right? Which becomes a hospitalization. And then you're putting a bed and then you develop a clot. So you see how one thing can lead to the next thing and it becomes this negative loop.
Host: Yeah, I see how those, those dots can be connected. And you mentioned the stressors. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about chronic stress versus the day to day stressors that we all experience. How those relate to heart disease and heart attacks.
Kelli Goldsborough: So you have episodic stress, which is acute. You overdrew your money in your bank account. So you an unforeseen costs, you know, illness that was inconvenient, your caregiver and mom suddenly gets ill and you have to stop what you're doing to go take care of mom. Work is a huge stressor for lots of people. So those are all acute stresses, right? Like that's not the normal and you have to respond to those as they kind of come down the pike. Chronic stress is somebody who maybe responds inappropriately to those common stressors, right? Like so you're in a high stress job, you're dealing with lots and lots of money or lots and lots of demands from many places. Think higher management, it may be you are in finance. Finance, you know, is probably a huge stressor. Maybe you work in the ER and you're dealing with crisis after crisis for 12 hours a day, three to five days a week. The chronic stress comes from normal stresses that aren't dealt with appropriately. So if we have a nice healthy lifestyle, both mind and body, you know, you exercise, you eat well, you don't smoke, you don't drink to excess. When you are having a abnormally stressful day, you know what to do to kind of take yourself down from that high stress state. So when more stress comes, you can deal with it. It's the ability of the mind and the body to deal with the acute stress as it comes so that it doesn't become chronic.
Host: That's really a great way to put that, right? If we don't deal with the day to day stressors well, they become chronic and once they become chronic, it'd be much more difficult to deal with. So lastly here, Kelli, and thank you so much for joining me today and great information. Do you have any suggested methods for lowering stress levels? Like we know that stress is bad and that it can lead potentially to heart disease and heart attacks. So what do we do to lower the stresses that we're all feeling?
Kelli Goldsborough: Exercise is the best way to manage stress. It improves your mood through the release of endorphins, contributes to cardiovascular wellness. A person that regularly exercises is less likely to drink or smoke to access. It helps with the prevention of obesity related diseases. Again, going back to diabetes and when it's done regularly, it can actually delay the onset of other health conditions, which a person may be genetically predisposed to such as high cholesterol or hypertension, and it can decrease the burden of disease. So that means you're not down for as long. You get sick. You know, even with some more serious illnesses, you're not sick for as long. It's less medication. The next thing is a healthy well balanced diet. Don't overdo it on anything. There's all good things in balance.
Host: That's a great place to end. Balance is great. If we get that balance, we find that balance. Maybe we can avoid the acute day to day stressors. And then those things don't become chronic. And then chronic doesn't begin to persist and cause us to do bad things to ourselves, like smoking and all of that. Really great having you on today, Kelli. Great information. Thanks so much and thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.