the role of stress in illness L2

• What immediate stress hormone is mentioned in the study material?

  Adrenaline
• How does high adrenaline affect the cardiovascular system?

  It increases heart rate and constricts blood vessels
• What are the consequences of high adrenaline levels on the heart?

  It causes the heart to work harder and increases blood pressure
• What cardiovascular issues can arise from high adrenaline levels?

  Coronary heart disease, hypertension, and strokes
• What is one effect of cortisol mentioned in the study material?

  It reduces the body's immune response
• How does immunosuppression affect health?

  It increases chances of illness from bacteria and viruses
• What was the sample size in Williams et al (2000) study?

  13,000 people
• How much more likely were high scorers on the anger scale to have a heart attack?

  2.5 times more likely
• What does the study suggest about adrenaline levels and cardiovascular disorders?

  Increases in adrenaline are associated with disorders
• What did Kiecolt-Glaser et al (1984) study focus on?

  Natural killer cells in medical students
• What was observed about natural killer cells during revision?

  They were less active while revising
• What does the evidence from Kiecolt-Glaser et al (1984) suggest about ongoing stressors?

  They reduce immune system functioning
• A03: self-report data should be treated with caution...


  • stress and cardiovascular outcomes are often measured using self-report questionnaires
  • people who remember more unpleasant than pleasant events are likely to score more highly on stress measures and cardiovascular outcomes
  • this means that self-report measures might produce an unjustified correlation between higher perceived stress and cardiovascular symptoms
• A03: Research support linking stress with cardiovascular disease...


  • A large body of research has linked stress with cardiovascular disease (CVD)
  • for example, Sheps et al. (2002) found that people with CVD had erratic heartbeats when public speaking. They were more likely to die from heart disease than those with stable heartbeats
  • this shows that psychological stress dramatically increases the risk of death in at least some people with poor coronary artery circulation
• A03: Individual differences in cardiovascular effects...


  • individuals respond differently to stress because of gender, age and reactiveness of their sympathetic nervous system
  • for example, women show more adverse immunological and hormonal changes when stress is caused by marital conflict
  • there are also age differences; as people age, stress has a greater effect on immune system functioning, making it harder for the body to regulate self (Segerstrom and Miller, 2004)