Women who suffer harassment from their partners have a higher risk of heart disease.

Gender-based violence affects health: women who suffer harassment from their partners or who have a restraining order against them are more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke in the following years , according to a study published Monday in the journal Circulation .

"Although violence against women is common and there is evidence linking it to subsequent cardiac health outcomes for women, it is still not widely recognized or considered by health professionals as a potential cardiovascular risk factor," says Rebecca B. Lawn, a researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and Harvard University in Boston, USA.

That's why it was important to go beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors in women and study "the relationship between underexplored types of violence and heart health," explains the doctor.

In the United States alone, where the study was conducted, one in three women has experienced harassment at some point in her life , according to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite these figures, cardiovascular studies rarely include stalking. To better understand the extent of all forms of gender-based violence, the team analyzed data on stalking, restraining orders, and heart disease or stroke among more than 66,000 women over twenty years .

In 2001, when the study began, the participants had an average age of 46, and none suffered from cardiovascular disease. The study revealed that during those two decades, nearly 12% of the women experienced harassment and 6% obtained a restraining order.

About 3% of all women studied reported new onset heart disease or stroke during the 20-year study period.

Compared with women who had not been bullied, they were 41% more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease.

Those who had obtained a restraining order were 70% more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, and women whose medical records confirmed heart attacks or strokes were more likely to report having been stalked or having obtained a restraining order.

"Stalking is often considered a form of violence that doesn't involve physical contact, which can make it seem less serious, but these results reveal that stalking shouldn't be minimized. It can be chronic, and women often report significant changes in response to it, such as moving house," Lawn warns.

The work suggests that the relationship between bullying and cardiovascular disease may be due to stress , which can disrupt the nervous system, the proper functioning of blood vessels, and other biological processes, although the research did not analyze these mechanisms in detail.

The authors argue for the need for further research and improved training for health professionals to better understand the relationship between bullying and abuse and women's cardiovascular health .

At the same time, "we must raise awareness about the potential health risks of experiencing violence and provide women with support and resources," they emphasize.

Among the study's limitations is the fact that the participants, registered nurses in the United States, were predominantly non-Hispanic white women, so the results may not be consistent with other populations or groups of people.