No abstract

Selye defined stress as the body's non-specific response to any demand on its resources. Unemployment is a stress which is equivalent to a bereavement in the family. In a period of one year, in a Health Centre, patients were screened for lipid profile studies, history of stress (ideas of intrusion and avoidance), hypertension, overweight and cigarette smoking, who were between the ages of 35 and 60 years, and of both sexes.95% who had more than an 85 score on the scale of intrusion and avoidance, were found to have hypertension, they smoked more than 15 cigarettes, had raised triglycerides and total cholesterol. In thirteen patients there was raised IgA (only 27 patients were tested for immunoglobins). These findings suggest that during stress there could be more incidence of atheroma. There are a few behavioural techniques which can be taught e.g. change of behaviour from A to B; desensitization of stress; inoculation of stress and increased compliance to raise the aerobic power to face the stressorSo a hypothesis can be put forward that stress is the main factor to be emphasised in preventive cardiology, along with the other three factors; hypertension, lipid and smoking