TUESDAY, Sept. 3, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Feeling out of control isn't just bad for your mental health, it may also be bad for your heart.
That's the conclusion of a new study that appears in the September issue of Pyschophysiology.
Researchers from Pennsylvania State University found that when study volunteers believed they had no control over one aspect of a test they were given, their blood pressure was higher than when they felt they had some control.
"Having control over stressful situations might make a difference in the way the cardiovascular system responds," says study author Suzanne Weinstein, program manager of assessment and measurement at Penn State.
Weinstein and her colleagues recruited 32 college students for the study. Twenty-one were women, and 70 percent of the students were white.
The researchers asked the volunteers to play a video game of "catch," in which a square came down a computer screen and the student had to manipulate the paddle at the bottom of the screen to catch the square. The game program was set to keep the students constantly playing at the same level -- if they got better, the game got harder; conversely, if they weren't performing well, the test got easier.
Randomly, the researchers would play a burst of annoying white noise after an error. The noise blasts didn't occur after every error though, so the students didn't know when they were coming.
In one test, the researchers told the students they could control the noise by improving their performance. In another, they were told the blasts were random and they couldn't be controlled. In both instances, the researchers played the noise seven times, regardless of performance.
As the tests were being performed, the researchers measured blood pressure, heart rate and total peripheral resistance to blood flow -- a measure of cardiac output, according to Weinstein.
The students who believed they were in control had slightly lower systolic blood pressure and total peripheral resistance compared to those who thought they couldn't affect the noise.
So, the students who believed they were in control experienced less cardiac stress, and Weinstein points out that only the illusion of control was needed to reduce that stress. However, Weinstein also says the effect was modest -- only several blood pressure points.
"Studies like this are very difficult because humans are very complex," says Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist at New York University Medical Center in New York City. He adds that personality could affect the results because some people crave control more than others.
However, he also notes, this is interesting data and supports other research that has shown a lack of control and the anger associated with losing control can be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Siegel says he will continue to advise his patients to deal with their anger and stress and look for ways to control what is going on in their lives.
What To Do
For more information on stress and heart disease, go to the American Heart Association. Read about how stress plays a role in heart disease.
