Stress and Post-op Myocardial Injury

See article below on stress and Myocardial Injury .

http://www.anesthesiologynews.com/Clinical-Anesthesiology/Article/05-16/Myocardial-Injury-Within-Month-of-Surgery-Is-Third-Leading-Cause-of-Death/36135/ses=ogst

This is not new news. In the 1970s when Open Hearts were just becoming a new treatment for cardiac patients the relationship to stress became apparent and researched.

Follow up actually showed that surgery did not greatly increase life expectancy. What they discovered was, if the stress response was not dealt with then the prognosis did not change either.

A stress reducing technique was developed to help patients deal with post-op stress. It was a simple, but involved stress/relax muscle exercise starting with either the left or right toes and squeezing then relaxing for a number of times then moving up each area of the leg, stressing and relaxing each area.

Next, is the other leg then the body and arms last was the face. In 1975 Herbert Benson published his book, The Relaxation Response based on the findings at Harvard showing the relationship of stress to disease and specifically heart attacks and ulcers.