Stressed brain, diseased heart : a review on the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neurocardiology

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, Vitor H.
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Cerqueira, João, Palha, Joana Almeida, Sousa, Nuno
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/24143
• topic: Cardiovascular diseases; Central nervous system; Neurocardiology; Pathophysiology; Chronic stress; Science & Technology

Cardiovascular diseases are traditionally related to well known risk factors like dyslipidemia, smoking, diabetes and hypertension. More recently, stress, anxiety and depression have been proposed as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases including heart failure, ischemic disease, hypertension and arrhythmias. Interestingly, this association has been established largely on the basis of epidemiological data, due to insufficient knowledge on the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. This review will revisit evidence on the interaction between the cardiovascular and nervous systems, highlighting the perspective on how the central nervous system is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Such knowledge is likely to be of relevance for the development of better strategies to treat patients in a holistic perspective.