Manage Stress, COVID-19's Companion

Today, the companion of stress is Covid-19 (Coronavirus). Since 1 March 2020 the individual, community, national and global experience of unrelenting stress is taking a physical toll on people’s heart health. A study published in JAMA’s Network from Cleveland Clinic compared Covid-19 patients (total 1914) who presented to the hospital ER with chest pain compared with 1656 pre-Covid-19 patients. The final diagnosis for both groups was stress cardiomyopathy (aka Takotsubo Syndrome). The rate ratio was 4.58:1 meaning a significant increase in incidence of stress cardiomyopathy due to Covid-19 compared to pre-pandemic periods.

So, what can a person do to lessen the risk of developing stress cardiomyopathy? Personally, I visualize stress as being a ‘hot potato.’ The more I touch it the more it burns. Consequently, I get rid of the hot potato through daily physical activity, controlling negative input from the TV or Internet, refusing to listen to negative attitudes by others. I feast on encouraging, positive energy from books, podcasts, and blogs. I schedule times to go to bed that gives me 7-8 hours of sleep, and finally if angry, discouraged or frustrated I talk with family or friends to get ‘it’ off my chest. In other words, a hot potato is not meant to be held but unloaded as quickly as possible. This is my recipe to lessen my risk of ending up at the local emergency room.

Incidence of Stress Cardiomyopathy During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic; Ahmad Jabri, MD, etal.

JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(7); e2014780. Doi: 10.100/jamanetworkopen.2020.14780

Image credit: "File:Tipet e kardiomiopative.png" by Npatchett, User:BruceBlaus is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0