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Worrying about our health can be quite detrimental to our long-term well-being and a new study sheds some further light on the consequences of it. Being in a constant state of chronic stress and worry can really play a big role in negatively impacting our health. And there are currently tens of millions of Americans who suffer with anxiety disorders. 


There is plenty of evidence already available on the dangers surrounding excessive anxiety, stress, and worry etc, but this new study sought to specifically investigate *<b> health anxiety</b>*.

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## What Is Health Anxiety? 

Suffering from health anxiety means that the individual has a persistent preoccupation with thinking that they have a serious illness. Those who suffer from this will quite often monitor their body obsessively, misinterpret symptoms, and continually seek medical advice. 

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## Findings 

People who have health anxiety are going to be much more likely to develop heart disease later-on in life, according to the findings. The study looked at over 7,000 participants and it discovered that people with anxiety over their health, were 73 percent more likely to develop heart disease over ten years. 

The researchers in this study sought to investigate as to whether or not health anxiety was associated with the risk of developing ischaemic heart disease (IHD). It involved a 12 year follow-up study and during follow-up it was found that 6.1 percent of health anxiety cases had gone on to develop IHD. Their findings further strengthen the notion that anxiety in a myriad of forms can be a risk factor for IHD. 

Anxiety in general has already been implicated in a number of chronic physical illnesses, and those include heart disease, along with chronic respiratory disorders, and even gastrointestinal conditions. These findings from the current study mentioned above, help to reaffirm the belief that anxiety can fuel consequences that we don't want to reap. 

pics:
pixabay
someecards
Sources:
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/11/e012914.short?g=w_open_current_tab
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/14/can-worrying-about-health-make-you-ill-anxiety
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/anxiety_and_physical_illness