No one likes to feel stressed-out. And the evidence is clear: as we age, stress can take its toll on our bodies, both physically and mentally. And it doesn’t even need to be the result of a major life trauma- small stressors, day in and day out, over time, can build up to cause significant health problems for you later in life. For women, in particular, we already know that post-heart attack, their cardiovascular outcomes are worse than those for men, and now we have new evidence that mental stress in women can further amplify their risk when it comes to myocardial ischemia following a heart attack. So, if stress is present in your life (is there anyone who doesn’t have stress?), you need to step back, take a deep breath, and learn about some tips to reduce your stress load Here. And for a little good news? There is new research that found that as women transition across midlife, they self-report less stress than earlier in their lives. It’s a small study (with no report of how much chocolate was involved!) that requires deeper probing, but any findings of stress reduction perceptions are worthy of further study.