ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, and many of the risk factors, like smoking or high blood pressure, are well known. But new research out today shows there's something else to consider. Women who have experienced physical threats, specifically stalking, have a 41% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. NPR's Katia Riddle reports.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Being stalked is obviously incredibly scary and stressful, but it's often thought of in terms of a psychological experience. This research links that psychological stress to declines in physical health. Rebecca Lawn is one of the researchers who worked on this study, which was put out by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
REBECCA LAWN: We knew that violence is not good for health, but it's still something that's not commonly considered in health care.
RIDDLE: The data comes from a study of more than 66,000 women nurses. Researchers followed their health over a period of 20 years.
LAWN: There's so many types of violence that women experience, and stalking is one that is particularly understudied.
RIDDLE: The risk was especially high for women who had obtained a restraining order. That can be an indicator of severe stalking. For people in this group, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease was 70% higher than others. Liz Tobin-Tyler is a professor at Brown University who studies public health and women. She was not involved in the study. She says this research has practical implications for the entire field of health care.
LIZ TOBIN-TYLER: As a researcher who pays a lot of attention to violence against women and the effect of violence against women on their health, it's critical that health care providers are aware of the linkages here.
RIDDLE: The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Tobin-Tyler says she worries that longitudinal studies that look at risk factors for women are in jeopardy under the Trump administration. They've recently canceled funding both for the NIH and for various research efforts that focus specifically on women's health.
TOBIN-TYLER: Now, if we're not studying those things, we're really going to lose out in terms of understanding a range of issues related to women's health, including, as this study pointed out, cardiovascular disease.
RIDDLE: The study may just be about women, she says, but it's relevant for every member of society.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
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