Are you worried about your health? Did you know that it could lead in to heart attack?
"Worried well 'make themselves sick'," reports The Daily Telegraph.
Several other news outlets covered the same story with headlines about how the "worried well" may be more likely to develop heart disease.
The stories are based on a Norwegian population study with 7,052 participants that aimed to see whether health anxiety (hypochondria) was linked with the development of heart disease.
Middle aged participants filled in questionnaires about their health concerns and their heart health was tracked over a 12 year period.
The study found people with health anxiety had a 73% increased chance of developing heart disease compared to those without.
However, it's difficult to say with certainty that health anxiety directly and independently increases the risk of heart disease.
The researchers took into account other heart disease risk factors, such as obesity, smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. But they didn't delve further into the people's health.
We can't exclude the possibility that other health factors may have contributed both to the people's health worries and their heart disease risk.
Nevertheless, the study highlights that anxiety, like other mental health problems, can affect your health in many ways.
If you are struggling with feelings of anxiety and it's affecting your daily life, contact your GP to get help and support. There are many treatments that work well for anxiety.
The study was carried out by researchers from University of Bergen, Sandviken University Hospital, Haraldsplass Deaconal University Hospital, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
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