Relationship of Hostility and Heart Disease: Program Evaluation of Dr. Dean Ornish's Healthy Heart Program
The California School of Professional Psychology
The study of coronary heart disease (CHD) has led to major changes in beliefs regarding risk factor modification. Standard allopathic care in the United States has, until recently, been crisis-oriented: focusing on treating symptoms without addressing the underlying physical and emotional causes of the illness. Research in the last four years has demonstrated that, although physical risk factors of CHD (such as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and high blood sugar) are highly significant, they do not fully explain the nature of this illness (Sinatra, 1996). Research studies have confirmed the dominant role of psychological, emotional and metabolic stress in the etiology of heart disease, and have shown the regression of atherosclerosis through modification of these physical, emotional, and spiritual variables (Allan, 1996). Studies have shown a significant reduction in cardiac problems with a reversal of angiographic evidence of atherosclerosis for patients who adhered to a program of radical lifestyle changes which pertained to diet and exercise with the addition of meditation and group therapy (Allan & Scheidt, 1993). Ornish's Health Heart Program is an example of this type of program.
The cause of heart disease is multifactorial. Although the physical risk factor model is extremely important, the emotional side of heart disease is equally important, though often underestimated. Physical risk factors involved in CHD include cigarette smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol (Heog, 1997). Since it is agreed that chronic psychosocial stress can lead to unhealthy behaviors such as excessive smoking and inappropriate diet, it is important to consider that a person's personality and reactivity to stress are key ...