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A new study done by researchers(1) at Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that social stress(2) could be an important precursor(3) to heart disease(4) by causing the body to deposit(5) more fat in the abdominal cavity(6), speeding the harmful buildup(7) of plaque(8) in blood vessels(9), a stepping stone to(10) the number one cause of death in the world.

The findings could be an important consideration(11) in the way the United States and other Western countries try to stem(12) the rapid rise of obesity(13), said Carol A. Shively, Ph.D. (14), a professor of pathology(15) and the study’s principal investigator(16).

The study appears as the cover story(17) of the current issue of Obesity, the peer-reviewed(18) journal of the Obesity Society.

“We are in the midst of(19) an obesity epidemic(20),” Shively said. “Much of the excess fat in many people who are overweight(21) is located in the abdomen(22), and that fat behaves differently than fat in other locations. If there’s too much, it can have far more harmful effects on health than fat located in other areas.”

She notes that obesity is directly related to lower socioeconomic status(23) in Western societies, as is heart disease. So, the people who have fewer resources to buffer(24) themselves from the stresses(25) of life are more likely to(26) experience such health problems(27), she said.

In this study of how the stress of low social status(28) affects the development of heart disease, female monkeys were fed a Western-style(29) diet containing fat and cholesterol(30). The monkeys were housed(31) in groups so they would naturally establish a pecking order(32) from dominant(33) to subordinate(34).