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WASHINGTON, April 5 (AFP) - Stress management and exercise can reduce the threat of heart attacks in people with cardio-vascular disease, according to a scientific study published Tuesday in the United States.
Researchers tested 134 men and women aged 40 to 84 suffering from coronary artery disease (also called ischemic heart disease), to see how regular exercise and techniques to reduce stress would affect their illnesses.
Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
Over 16 weeks, volunteers were grouped into those receiving routine medical treatment, those with treatment and an exercise regime, and a third group that practiced stress management in addition to exercising.
All were given stress tests, including making challenging public speeches before critical judges, and tracing difficult figures from a mirror reflection.
Researchers found within the third group, which underwent 90 minutes of stress management training a week, a significant reduction in key risk indicators for cardio-vascular problems compared with the others.
Those who exercised also showed better indicators than those who received only routine medical treatment.
"Results of this randomized, controlled trial demonstrate that behavioral treatments provide added benefits to routine medical management in patients" with stable coronary artery disease, said study leader James Blumenthal of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.
Full results of the study, conducted from January 1999 to February 2003, will be published in the April 6 Journal of the American Medical Association.
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