Stalking increases heart attack risk in women by 41%, study reveals
text_fields
New Delhi: Being stalked may significantly impact women’s health, increasing their risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation. Stalking, one of the most common forms of interpersonal violence, affects roughly one in three women over their lifetime.
The findings draw on nearly two decades of data from the Nurses’ Health Study II, a long-term research project examining risk factors for major chronic diseases.
The study revealed that women who reported being stalked, particularly those who obtained restraining orders, were more likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes later in life. Women who experienced stalking were 41 per cent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease compared to those who had not been stalked, with the risk rising to 70 per cent among those who obtained restraining orders.
Interestingly, the correlation also worked in reverse: women with documented heart attacks or strokes were more likely to have experienced stalking previously. About 12 per cent of the women reported stalking, and 6 per cent had obtained a restraining order.
Rebecca B. Lawn, a research associate in epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the study’s authors, noted, “Stalking is often seen as a form of violence that does not involve physical contact, which may make it seem less serious. Stalking can be chronic, and women often report making significant changes in response, such as moving.”
The researchers explained that this increased risk could be linked to psychological distress, which can disrupt the nervous system, impair blood vessel function, and damage blood vessel walls, affecting overall cardiovascular health.
The study is particularly important because stalking is widespread but rarely recognised as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Lawn added, “Although violence against women is common, and evidence has linked violence with consequences for women’s later heart health, it is still not widely recognised or routinely considered by health care professionals as a potential cardiovascular risk factor among women.”
Traditional risk factors for heart attacks and strokes include hypertension, diabetes, smoking, lack of physical activity, and family history. Emotional distress and depression also contribute. Women face additional risks, such as high blood pressure or diabetes developed during pregnancy, and post-menopause, when the protective effects of hormones decrease.
This study highlights the urgent need to recognise stalking and other forms of chronic emotional stress as significant contributors to long-term cardiovascular health in women.
