Being Angry Even For A Few Minutes Can Increase Risk Of Heart Attack And Stroke, Study Finds

Getting angry, even for just a few minutes, can change the functioning of blood vessels, which might make heart attacks and strokes more likely, a new study has found. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, shows that there is a relationship between an acute episode of anger and an increased risk of heart attack. It suggests that even short bouts of anger could worsen cardiovascular health and may trigger heart diseases, heart attacks and strokes. 

The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Yale School of Medicine, St. John's University in New York, and other institutions. They invited 280 healthy adults and randomized them into four groups that recalled events that made them angry, sad or anxious. A control group also repeatedly counted out loud from 1 to 100 for 8 minutes and maintained a neutral emotional state. 

Researchers then tested the group members' blood samples and measured blood flow and pressure both before and after the study. They found that the blood vessels' ability to dilate for the participants in the angry group was significantly reduced in comparison to the control group. Moreover, for those in the sadness and anxiety groups, their blood vessel dilation wasn't affected. 

This suggests that intense emotions could contribute to cardiac events in people who already have poor health, Daichi Shimbo at Columbia University said. "Repeated episodes of a negative emotion may affect cardiovascular physiology over time, causing... irreversible damage," the researchers wrote in their paper. 

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The effects of anger on blood vessel functioning fit with observations that heart attacks occasionally seem to be triggered by intense emotions, however, it isn't necessarily easy for people to stop getting angry, said Andrew Steptoe at University College London. "If people have serious problems, there are anger management interventions, but it's quite difficult, for some of these emotions, to modify them very well," he added. 

Separately, Glenn Levine from Baylor College of Medicine noted that this study contributes to understanding the complex relationship between psychological states and cardiovascular health. It highlights the importance of managing stress and emotions for heart health, the researchers said.