Stress May Raise Cholesterol Levels

The results of a recent study suggest that for some people the body's reactionto stress may up their odds of developing high cholesterol. The findingsof the study were reported in the November 2005 edition of HealthPsychology.

The researchers tested 199 middle-aged adults over a period of 3 years. Atthe start of the study, the participants performed 2 moderately stressful computer-based tasks. Blood samples were taken before and after the tasks tomeasure any changes in cholesterol levels. The participants were then dividedinto 3 groups, based on their cholesterol responses to stress.

After 3 years, the participants had their blood cholesterol measured again.The results showed that those in the group with the greatest response tostress were the most likely to have high cholesterol. Even when other relatedfactors were taken into account, the group with the highest stressresponse was 13 times more likely to have high cholesterol than the groupwith the lowest response to stress.