Psychology Commons^™

Psychosocial Factors In Coronary Heart Disease, Elizabeth J. Vella Phd

Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular disease represents the leading cause of death globally, which includes mortality due to stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD); of these two forms of cardiovascular disease, CHD accounts for more deaths annually (World Health Organization, 2015). The primary features of CHD include plaque development in the coronary arteries (atherosclerosis), heart attack (myocardial infarct), and acute chest pain (angina; Labarthe, 1998). The traditional risk factors for CHD include age, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, inactive lifestyle, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and family history of the disease (World Heart Federation, 2015). Epidemiologic evidence suggests that traditional risk factors of CHD …