Acute stress caused by strong emotions such as fear can sometimes cause sud
den death in people with underlying coronary artery disease (CAD). Chronic
mental stress may also promote the long-term development of coronary diseas
e, although the distinction between Type A and Type B personalities appears
overly simplistic. Stress-management interventions measurably improve CAD
patients' performance on cardiac function tests, and should be incorporated
more often in standard cardiac rehabilitation programs.