Healio (1/24, Swain) reports, “Higher levels of anxiety were linked to increases in cardiometabolic risk biomarkers over time in men, researchers” concluded in an analysis that “included 1,561 men (mean age, 53 years at baseline; 97% white) from the Normative Aging Study who in 1975 were free from” cardiovascular disease “or cancer and completed assessments of neuroticism and worry.” HealthDay (1/24, Mann) reports, “Men who reported higher levels of anxiety had a 10% to 13% greater chance of reaching high biological risk for heart disease, stroke or diabetes during the 40-year follow-up period, the researchers” concluded. HealthDay adds, “The study wasn’t designed to say how worry and anxiety increase risks for disease, but worriers were more likely to smoke, consume alcohol and not exercise regularly.” The findings were published Jan. 24 online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Heart Association. (SOURCE: APA Headlines)