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DUTCH STUDY SHOWS THAT HEART PATIENTS WITH A DISTRESSED (TYPE D) PERSONALITY ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE OR HAVE A HEART ATTACK | |
| Contact: S.S. Pedersen (Ph.D.) Phone: +31 (0) 13 466 2503 Email: s.s.pedersen@uvt.nl Embargoed until: March 4, 2004 |
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Do you often worry and feel unhappy, and are you afraid of telling others how you feel? Then you may have a Type D personality. If you are a heart patient and Type D, you may have a problem. That is the finding of a study on the influence of the distressed personality on cardiovascular prognosis in 875 patients conducted by Susanne S. Pedersen, Ph.D., lecturer and research scientist at the University of Tilburg and the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The study was part of a bigger study that sought to evaluate the efficacy of a new stent type used in angioplasty procedures in patients with heart disease. A stent is a metal tube inserted into the coronary arteries in order to increase blood flow to the heart. Results of the sub-study were presented for the first time at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, held March 3-6 in Orlando, FL. "This study shows that Type D personality is an important determinant of outcome in heart patients", Pedersen said. Heart patients with a Type D personality following angioplasty with stent implantation were at a five-fold increased risk of dying or having a heart attack 9 months later. This risk was unassociated with the severity of disease, established cardiovascular risk factors, and stent type used. "Despite more patients surviving an initial heart attack due to continuous improvements in medical treatment, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the Western world. The present results underscore the importance of not forgetting psychological factors", Pedersen said. | |
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Psychosomatic Medicine is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, published bimonthly. For information about the journal, contact Vicki White, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production,
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