Stress and the heart

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Unrelieved physical or mental stress and repeated episodic stress are ultimately harmful to the cardiovascular system and thus can be life-threatening. In this article, Dr Eliot describes efforts to quantify the psychophysiologic responses to stress and to identify the components of stress and its clinical consequences. He also explains the importance of controlling the real-life episodic fluctuations in blood pressure that occur daily in response to stress.