Inflammation and the mental state before an acute coronary event

Feelings of exhaustion have been found to belong to the precursors of acute coronary events. Guided by the current views of the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes, a two-stage model describing a feedback relationship between mental state and the disease process is presented. According to the presented model prolonged exposure to stress results in a state of exhaustion leading to increased susceptibility to inflammatory diseases. Inflammation, in turn, amplifies feelings of exhaustion and malaise through cytokine release. Results of a study of 15 exhausted and 15 nonexhausted angioplasty patients, showing elevated levels of interleukin-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in the exhausted patients, give empirical support to this model.