The effect of short-term stress (tournament bridge playing and performance of surgery) on serum lipids

Abstract

Summary Tournament bridge playing and surgery were used to study the effects of “stress” on normal people. The lipoprotein levels in blood were not altered significantly by 4 to 8 hours of such stress. Total cholesterol increased significantly after the performance of surgery and approached significance after bridge playing. However, control subjects, under no stress during a comparable period to that of the bridge playing, also showed a significant increase in cholesterol. There was little change in the mean triglyceride level, but in individuals, both bridge players and controls, elevation or depression of the triglyceride concentrations from the initial levels was observed; these changes were not related to stress. The results show that severe stress of 4 to 8 hours' duration need not be associated with changes in the levels of cholesterol, lipoproteins or triglycerides, and do not therefore support the concept that short-term stress necessarily contributes to atherogenesis by the mechanism of temporary serum lipid elevations. The possible longterm effects of nervous overactivity on lipid metabolism were not considered.