Coronavirus and Your Heart (Must Read)

This coronavirus pandemic is never far from any of our thoughts.

My heart breaks for all of the people around the world who are fighting for their lives right now.

I truly hope you and the people you love are safe.

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the folks who don’t have the virus… but who are cooped up in their homes, afraid of getting sick, and too fearful to even run out for groceries.

If that sounds like you, there’s another health problem that you need to be on the lookout for.

And this is particularly urgent if you’ve had issues with your heart.

Anxiety about COVID-19 may be spreading faster than the virus itself—and for some people, it could have devastating consequences.

This warning is especially for heart attack survivors.

Researchers studied 306 people who had suffered from a heart attack within the past eight months.

They underwent two different stress tests—one mental and one physical—and then researchers examined blood flow to the heart.

What they found was that mental stress caused lack of blood flow (called ischemia) to the heart and the rest of the body.

This is serious, since heart attack survivors who experience reduced blood flow to the heart are two times more likely to have another heart attack or to die from heart disease.

I know we’re living in scary times right now.

It’s easy to become anxious and overwhelmed about your health, your finances, and the future. It’s easy to stress about having necessities like food and toilet paper.

But mental stress takes a serious toll on your body. And as this study highlighted, it’s especially dangerous for those who have a pre-existing heart condition.

That’s why it’s so important to take care of your mental health as well as your physical health.

While you’re sheltering in place, do some yoga. Practice deep breathing. Meditate. Journal.

Go outside and spend time in your garden.

Get plenty of rest.

All of these things can help keep your stress levels manageable.

And that’s more important than ever right now.