Anxiety disorder associated with quicker reaction to heart attack

Anxiety disorder can be hazardous to a person’s health. Worrying about false dangers is mentally and emotional straining and can even increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

But when it comes to responding to actual emergencies like a heart attack, researchers have found this pathological apprehension may be beneficial.

In a study of 619 patients who had a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), women with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) arrived at the hospital an average of 112 minutes after a heart attack—roughly two hours before their counterparts without anxiety disorder. Men with GAD arrived 48 minutes earlier on average than men without GAD.

These are important differences in the setting of heart attack, when faster treatment is optimal for survival and recovery.

"Individuals with anxiety disorder are at greater risk of having a heart attack but are more likely to survive it,” said senior study author Karl-Heinz Ladwig, MD, PhD. "Individuals with anxiety disorder often react more sensitively to their health needs. Doctors should always take their concerns very seriously.

“Such patients are also more decisive when it comes to accepting help. In this way, one illness can help protect against another serious illness."

The authors analyzed interview responses—collected within 24 hours after patients left the intensive care unit—as well as clinical data and the time of hospital arrival.

In addition to presenting to the hospital sooner after acute MI, people with GAD were 2.56 times more likely to perceive they had a cardiovascular risk in the six months leading up to the heart attack. This led to an equally increased likelihood (2.68-fold) they would decide on their own to go to the hospital during acute MI.