The questionSome people worry excessively that they have a serious illness or are going to develop one, a disorder commonly called hypochondria or health anxiety. This studyThe study involved 7,052 adults (average age 43), including 710 people considered to have health anxiety. Over a decade, 234 participants developed heart disease: 6 percent of those with health anxiety compared with 3 percent of the others. The greater the degree of health anxiety, the higher the risk for heart disease. The official diagnostic term for health anxiety or hypochondria is illness anxiety disorder.

Source: Washington Post November 04, 2016 20:03 UTC