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The heart responds to prolonged "bad" stress
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Long-term "bad" stress worsens metabolic processes in the myocardium - this is the conclusion reached by scientists.
Doctors have always recommended maintaining physical activity of the body for heart health, but advised limiting psychological stress. Many are surprised: both physical and stressful loads can increase blood pressure. So why is one good and the other bad?
This is not the point: stress can be different. During physical activity, the heart is loaded differently, with certain intervals for rest. And during psychoemotional stress, the load is continuous. The myocardium takes energy by processing lipids, but with continuous load, it has to process carbohydrates as well, since the energy received becomes insufficient. It would seem to be a normal compensatory mechanism, but this is not entirely true: residual carbohydrate molecules bind to proteins that affect the level of cellular calcium - it is at this stage that the heart experiences significant metabolic difficulties. Thus, during a period of continuous load, the myocardium begins to work in stress mode.
However, it does not end there. The performance of genes that control metabolic processes depends on such a specific protein as HDAC4, which cooperates with other DNA assembly proteins. This protein is responsible for how well DNA sections with genes will be packed.
Specialists representing the German Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered that cardiac functionality depends on HDAC4. If its content inside the cells is sufficient, then the myocardium does not need to process carbohydrates in large quantities. If there is little protein, then the myocardium will suffer even with moderate physical activity. Rodents with the disabled HDAC4 gene developed cardiac insufficiency against the background of moderate loads.
Specialists say that the activity of the protein is inextricably linked with protein kinase A. During physical exertion, the cooperation of the protein and the enzyme occurs in the usual mode. If there is constant psychological stress, the activity of protein kinase A is suspended, which leads to a failure of the natural mechanism. By the way, approximately the same thing happens with excessive cardio loads - for example, with excessive diligence in sports. Such overload does not train the myocardium, but on the contrary, exhausts it.
It is possible that in the near future scientists will find a way to influence this natural mechanism in order to protect the heart muscle - this applies to both stressful situations and excessive physical activity. For example, this would be useful in relation to people who are professional athletes.
Information provided by Nature Medicine.