American scientists warn that anger can have serious health consequences. According to a recent study, even brief episodes of anger can affect blood vessel function, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke for up to 40 minutes.
Anger can kill – Photo Shutterstock
Basically, anger can kill, according to a study cited by the Daily Mail.
Dr. Daichi Shimbo, study author and professor of medicine at Columbia University, said: “We saw that evoking a state of anger led to dysfunction of the blood vessels. Although we don’t yet understand what could be causing these changes“. The researchers identified this phenomenon as a “impairment of blood vessel dilation”. This disruption in blood flow can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
How the study was conducted
The researchers examined data from 280 volunteers with an average age of 26. They were instructed to relax for 30 minutes, during which time they were prohibited from talking, using the phone, reading or sleeping.
Before being randomly assigned to one of four eight-minute tasks, all 280 volunteers had their blood pressure measured. One task asked them to recall a personal experience that made them angry, while another asked them to recall a moment of anxiety or read sentences designed to evoke sadness. The fourth task was emotionally neutral, involving repeated counting to 100. Blood pressure and vasodilation measurements were taken at three minutes and then 40, 70 and 100 minutes later. In addition, blood samples were taken to assess cellular health.
The researchers found: “Pregnancies that recalled past events that caused anger resulted in an impairment of blood vessel dilation, from zero to 40 minutes after the task. The impairment was no longer present after 40 minutes. There were no significant changes in the of statistical view of the lining of the blood vessels of the participants at no time after experiencing the emotional tasks of anxiety and sadness“.
In an article published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers pointed out limitations related to the small size of the study. They noted that “it is not clear whether the results would apply to older adults with other health conditions, who would most likely be taking medication“.
“This study nicely adds to the growing evidence base that mental well-being can affect cardiovascular health and that intense acute emotional states such as anger or stress can lead to cardiovascular events. For example, we know that intense sadness or similar emotions are a common trigger for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome). Events such as earthquakes, or even a fan watching a football game, which causes stress, can lead to myocardial infarction (a heart attack) and or arrhythmias.“explained Dr. Glenn Levine, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who was not involved in the research.
Since the start of this year, UK premature deaths from cardiovascular causes, such as heart attacks and strokes, have reached their highest level in ten years. Obesity and related conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes are the main factors involved in this alarming increase.
And in our country, more and more young adults suffer from cardiovascular diseases or are victims of cerebrovascular accidents.
