Bacteria in Arteries May Be Link Between Stress And Heart Attacks

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The long-held belief that emotional or physical stress can trigger heart attacks may now have a scientific explanation: In stressed people, heart attacks might be triggered by bacteria dispersing within artery walls, causing fatty deposits in those blood vessels to rupture and clog blood flow, a new study says.

"We don't believe you're going to have a heart attack every time you get excited," said study co-author David Davies, a microbiologist at Binghamton University in New York. "It's more likely that every time there's stress, some small amount of damage is done" that weakens the fibers that hold such deposits onto artery walls, he said. Read more...

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