Anger and Coronary Heart Disease Risk
Aggression Increases Your Risk for Stroke and Heart Attack
Jun 3, 2009
Are you the type of person who gets easily angered and/or seethes at the smallest annoyances? Well, epidemiological studies have suggested high levels of anger may increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
In an 1996 article in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, "A Prospective Study of Anger and Coronary Heart Disease," by Ichiro Kawachi, MD; et al, the data suggests high levels of expressed anger may be a risk factor for CHD among older men.
The authors examined the relationship of anger to coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study, an ongoing cohort of older community-dwelling men. Approximately 1300 men who were free of diagnosed CHD participated. The study results indicated, "individuals who scored high on anger were younger, heavier, more likely to be current smokers, and somewhat more likely to drink at least two drinks of alcohol per day."
According to a compilation of other studies, anger has been demonstrated to:
- Speed up the heart rate and make blood pressure soar. The high-pressure surges of blood may then disrupt a plaque deposit in a coronary artery. Clotting material rushing to repair the damage may further block the artery, sparking a heart attack or a fatally abnormal heart rhythm.
- Stimulate the formation of clots and inhibit their breakdown.
- Narrow the coronary arteries, at least in people who have even minimally clogged arteries, just when the heart muscle needs more blood.
- Inhibit certain nerve signals that help maintain normal heart rhythms.
The More Anger You Experience the Greater the Heart Threat
When you consider chronically hostile people, their frequent bouts of anger experienced poses a subtler even greater threat. That's because the frequent high-pressure blood surges tend to wear down the smooth lining of the artery walls, creating a roughened foothold for artery-clogging plaque deposits.
Most of the best studies examining hostility's impact on the heart including the landmark Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, published 1982 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the 27-year Glostrup Population Study published 1999 in the journal STROKE - have found that hostile people are 50 percent to 100 percent more likely than others to develop coronary disease or have a heart attack.
While no study has directly tested whether easing hostility alone can lower the risk of coronary disease itself, there is some encouraging evidence.
In the United States a multitude of clinical trials have indicated emotional or behavioral approaches in general - including individual or group therapy and relaxation or stress management techniques - may cut the risk of a second heart attack nearly in half.
How Do You Mellow Out
Experts suggest keeping a hostility log - write down whenever possible any angry or cynical thoughts and what sparked them. They further suggest you ask yourself the following questions whenever you feel your temper rising:
- Am I sure the other person really misbehaved? There may be a legitimate reason - or it may have been an innocent mistake.
- Is the problem truly important?
- Do I have a constructive response?
If those steps fail, consult your healthcare practitioner. Remember, relaxation and physical exercise are important components to dealing with anger as well as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Normative Aging Study is a longitudinal study of aging established by the Veterans Administration in 1961.
A stroke register was established at the Glostrup Population Studies in 1982.
