Likelihood of Heart Attack increases for men after Prostate Cancer diagnoses

Newswise — Emotional stress is associated with CV morbidity and mortality, such as reported during earthquakes, loss of a child and during world cup soccer matches.

Emotional triggers result in physiological responses on the vascular, inflammatory and immune systems.

These severe physiologic changes can then exacerbate existing comorbidities or initiate new ones.

Several Swedish registries were used for this analysis. A cohort study was designed for men older than 30 years. Four million men were identified.

For the first year after CaP diagnosis, fatal CV events among men diagnosed with CaP was 15% higher than those without a CaP diagnosis and non-fatal CV events were 13% higher.

These relative risks decreased during more recent time periods studied, perhaps reflecting better medical management over time.

Thus, men diagnosed with CaP are at increased risk of both CV morbidity and death within the first year after diagnosis. Men younger than 54 years are at greatest risk. This stress-induced risk warrants further study.