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Heart of the matter: mere pain hint alters arteries
Source: Agencies |
September 21, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SIMPLY suggesting that a treatment will ease chest pain may not only dampen the pain, but directly alter heart arteries, according to a small German study.
Among 30 patients having a procedure to evaluate their chest pain, researchers found that those who were told they were being given an infusion of a pain-relieving drug did, on average, report a decrease of pain. But they also showed a slight but distinct narrowing of their heart vessels, said Karin Meissner and Joram Ronel of Technical University Munich, reporting their findings in the American Heart Journal.
None of the chest-pain patients actually had heart disease, and they were told about the "drug" - actually harmless saline - only after testing had shown no blockages in their heart arteries.
"The major finding was that the coronary vessels reacted so clearly to a mere psychological intervention," Meissner and Ronel said in an email.
Though the meaning of the findings and whether they have implications for heart disease patients remains unclear, the reaction was in a direction opposite to the one the researchers had expected to see.
The patients were actually told that the "drug" they were receiving would widen their arteries to relieve their chest pain. Instead, there was a small amount of blood vessel constriction in the group overall.
That constriction makes biological sense, according to Meissner and Ronel.
In a healthy person under stress, the nervous system triggers a widening in the blood vessels so that blood circulation increases to meet the body's needs. When stress fades, the vessels can narrow again.
"When the heart works less, there is less need for blood supply, and the vessels will be less dilated than in a stressful situation. This is how we interpret our data," they said.
Among 30 patients having a procedure to evaluate their chest pain, researchers found that those who were told they were being given an infusion of a pain-relieving drug did, on average, report a decrease of pain. But they also showed a slight but distinct narrowing of their heart vessels, said Karin Meissner and Joram Ronel of Technical University Munich, reporting their findings in the American Heart Journal.
None of the chest-pain patients actually had heart disease, and they were told about the "drug" - actually harmless saline - only after testing had shown no blockages in their heart arteries.
"The major finding was that the coronary vessels reacted so clearly to a mere psychological intervention," Meissner and Ronel said in an email.
Though the meaning of the findings and whether they have implications for heart disease patients remains unclear, the reaction was in a direction opposite to the one the researchers had expected to see.
The patients were actually told that the "drug" they were receiving would widen their arteries to relieve their chest pain. Instead, there was a small amount of blood vessel constriction in the group overall.
That constriction makes biological sense, according to Meissner and Ronel.
In a healthy person under stress, the nervous system triggers a widening in the blood vessels so that blood circulation increases to meet the body's needs. When stress fades, the vessels can narrow again.
"When the heart works less, there is less need for blood supply, and the vessels will be less dilated than in a stressful situation. This is how we interpret our data," they said.
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