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Heart responds to prolonged "bad" stress

 
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Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
 
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24 May 2018, 09:00

Prolonged "bad" stress worsens metabolic processes in the myocardium - this conclusion scientists came to.
Doctors at all times recommended for the health of the heart to maintain the physical activity of the body, but psychological pressure advised to limit. Many are surprised: both physical and stress load can increase blood pressure. So why is one good and the other bad?
 
The point is not this: stress can be different. During physical activity, the heart is loaded differently, with certain intervals to rest. And during the psychoemotional stress the load has a continuous character. Myocardium takes energy, processing lipids, but with continuous load, it also has to process carbohydrates, because the energy is not enough. It would seem that the usual compensatory mechanism, but this is not quite so: the residual molecules of carbohydrates 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 starts to work under stress.
 
However, this does not end there. The efficiency of genes controlling metabolic processes is dependent on a specific protein, such as HDAC4, that cooperates with other protein-harvesting DNA. It is this protein that is responsible for how high-quality DNA sections with genes will be packed.
 
Specialists representing the German Center for Cardiovascular Research have found that cardiac function is dependent on HDAC4. If its content inside the cells is sufficient, then the myocardium does not need to process carbohydrates in large quantities. If the protein is low, the myocardium will suffer even with moderate physical activity. In rodents with disconnected HDAC4 gene against a background of moderate loads, there was a lack of cardiac activity.
 
Experts say that the activity of protein is inextricably linked with protein kinase A. During physical activity, the cooperation of protein and enzyme proceeds in the usual way. 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, about the same thing happens with excessive cardio-operations - for example, when you show excessive zeal when doing sports. Such an overload does not train the myocardium, but rather depletes 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 concerns both stressful situations and excessive physical activity. For example, it would be useful in relation to people professionally engaged in sports.

Information is provided by Nature Medicine.

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