Phoebe Chongchua's Live Fit Magazine

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology gives us yet another reason to not worry-as if we need another reason. So, men especially, listen up.

There is apparently a connection between the heart and head... hmm. No wonder why when people feel so emotionally bad or are having great periods of stressful circumstances they are frequently fatigued and show, sometimes multiple, physical ailments.

Okay, so that's pretty obvious. But here's what the research found or basically validates. In men, chronic anxiety can significantly increase the risk of a heart attack. This simply means that heart disease may not just be associated with poor diet and lack of exercise. The research adds to the list yet another psychological profile that should be considered as a possible indicator. We already knew that depression, anger, hostility, and Type A behavior may be potential threats for heart disease. Now, chronic anxiety is added to that list.

You get the picture? People who can't seem to relax or stop sweating the small stuff are putting themselves in real danger. Couple that with lack of exercise and poor nutrition and you have a recipe for real health troubles.

So then we have medicine. It frequently is about treating the physical side to do things like lower a patient's blood pressure or cholesterol to prevent disease. But now more experts are becoming concerned with taking a look at the psychological aspect to make sure the patient has proper care there too. What's going on in your head can make you physically sick.

The Associated Press reports that the conclusions come from using data from a national aging study. Biing-Jiun Shen a psychologist at the University of Southern California estimated the impact that anxiety has on the heart.

The type of anxiety is relevant-it's the long-term anxiety that was being studied not just brief periods of nervousness, say for instance, before a very important presentation.  Rather the study looked at chronic worriers, those who are fearful, socially withdrawn, and, people with negative attitudes.

Since 1986 about 735 men with then-healthy hearts were tracked. They underwent extensive psychological testing and medical exams every three years. Not even 20 years later, 75 participants had suffered heart attacks.

Men who scored in the top 15 percent of anxiety scales that measured social insecurities, stress, phobias, and, excessive doubts were tracked. Men who were chronically anxious were 30 to 40 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those counterparts who handle their anxiety and stress with an easy-going attitude.

The link remained even when risk factors such as cholesterol problems and other heart-negative personality traits were included. This is because the hard-driven outgoing person and the timid, anxious person produce similar physiological responses such as raised blood pressure, heart rate, and the production of stress hormones.

The question is: if patients are treated for anxiety could that actually lower the risk of a heart attack? Unfortunately, there's no confirmed answer there yet. Anxiety is just considered another personality trait that is a marker for heart disease.

But I think most people would agree that long-term anxiety and worry, even if it doesn't cause a heart attack, is not a comfortable way to live. So, chalk this up to yet another reason to leave your worries behind and enjoy living a little more.