We will examine chronically stressed individuals (spouse caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Spouse caregivers lose the companionship and support of their AD spouses. These losses, coupled with chronic physical, emotional and financial demands (1, 2) as well as biobehavioral vulnerabilities, put spouse caregivers at increased risk for psychophysiological distress and physical health problems (3). In previous work with caregivers and matched controls, we studied a variety of psychobehavioral (e.g., hassles, anger/hostility, exercise, diet) and physiological measures. Of the metabolic, cardiovascular (CV), and immune measures examined, metabolic variables (Body Mass Index/obesity, insulin, and glucose) showed the strongest relationships with caregiving, whereas CV measures showed some relationships. These results lead us to focus now on metabolic/neuroendocrine measures. Such measures qualify as mediators of the relationship between caregiving and coronary heart disease (CHD) because they are related to both stress and CHD.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter