How earthquakes can affect your heart and your health
In the wake of last week’s catastrophic earthquake in China, we can only imagine the trauma that the victims and their families went through - trauma that will probably stay with them for the rest of their lives. With such trauma comes psychological stress and with increased stress comes elevated cardiovascular risk.
Several research studies have investigated the effect of acute stressors such as catastrophes and natural disasters on the cardiovascular well-being of the victims and people in the vicinity. A review article by Dr. JE Dimsdale of the University of California at San Diego shows that many of these studies observed an increased cardiovascular risk after earthquakes.
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
