Boston (dbTechno) - A new study has shown that older men who suffer from chronic anxiety have an increased risk of having a heart attack.

Stress has always been linked to an increased risk of heart problems, but this is the first time that chronic anxiety has also been linked as well.

There is no way to explain why there is a relationship between anxiety and heart attacks by looking at things like depression and hostility, they are completely different risk factors.

The study looked at 735 men who all took part in the Normative Aging Study. The men completed a psychological test in 1986 with no heart problems at all. They were then followed for 12 years and examined closely.

Researchers found that men with chronic anxiety had around a 40% increased risk of heart attack. The relationship was, the higher the level of anxiety, the higher the risk of heart attack.

The risk from anxiety was still prominent even after other factors such as health habits, personality traits, etc. were taken into effect.

Lead researcher Biing-Jiun Shen stated “There is an independent contribution of anxiety that can predict the onset of a heart attack among healthy older men.”

The study was published in the Jan. 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.