The fear of terrorism increases the risk of heart disease

According to the findings, the basic heart rate is affected by physiological characteristics (the degree of physical fitness, as well as an index of inflammation that reflects the activity of the immune system) while a continuous increase in heart rate is also affected by psychological characteristics such as fear of terrorism

The rise in the wave of global terrorism increases the anxiety of the population exposed to threats, but the psychological and health impact of long-term exposure to terrorism and the stress that follows it is unknown.

Previous studies have looked at the short-term effect of stress on humans. For example, in sudden stressful situations such as an earthquake, it was found that there is an increase in the heart rate and a greater risk of heart attacks. A new study, the broadest of its kind in terms of the scope of the population examined, examined the effect of physiological and psychological factors (among them fear of terrorism and the ability to control life) on heart rate. In older people, the heart rate decreases from year to year. But there are people whose heart rate actually increases from year to year and they are more exposed than others to heart attacks and strokes. In the current study, the researchers focused on the question of what characterizes people whose heart rate increases from year to year, and are therefore at risk of heart disease and stroke.

The research was conducted by Prof. Hermona Sorek from the Edmond and Lili Safra Center for Brain Research at the Hebrew University and Dr. Shani Shanhar-Srafati, an "Eshkol" Fellow at the Center. Together with Professor Yaakov Ritov from the Department of Statistics and the Center for the Study of Rationality, they examined the results of 17,300 healthy subjects who came for a general medical examination at the Tel Aviv Medical Center every year. The test includes blood tests, pulse and stress tests as well as psychological questionnaires.

"We wanted to test whether a marker such as fear of terrorism can predict an increase in heart rate and an increase in the risk of mortality," explains Prof. Sorek.

According to the findings, the basic heart rate is affected by physiological characteristics (the degree of physical fitness, as well as an index of inflammation that reflects the activity of the immune system) while a continuous increase in heart rate is also affected by psychological characteristics such as fear of terrorism. 4% of the population shows an increase in pulse rate and these are exactly the people who report that they are afraid of terrorism and also show signs of inflammation and are at risk of heart disease. The identification found by the researchers using 325 parameters and their statistical examination in the population that was tested, showed an increase from 60 beats per minute, a normal pulse, to 70-80 beats per minute following the fear of terrorism. In other words, it can be said that the heart works harder in these subjects, and therefore their risk of heart disease is higher.

Another question examined by the research is how the brain reports to the body about the prospect of danger. For this purpose, a blood test was also performed that examines the function of acetylcholine, the nerve messenger, known to be involved in stress reactions and the control of reactions to inflammation. "We discovered that fear of terrorism and existential anxiety can disrupt the control processes using acetylcholine and cause a chronic acceleration of the heart rate. Combined with inflammatory conditions, these changes involve the risk of heart attacks and strokes," Sorek adds. That is, the function of the nerve messenger is also damaged due to the fear of terrorism, and therefore the body's ability to defend itself against a possible heart attack decreases, and thus the chance of mortality increases