News - Hypertension Week of Feb. 2, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 05

Study: Anger in Moderation Guards Against Stroke, Heart Disease

Men who occasionally express anger have less chance of having a stroke and coronary heart disease, according to a study in the January/February issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Previous research has shown that chronic anger is related to the development of coronary disease, but few studies have examined how different styles of expressing anger might impact the disease.

In this study, researchers found that men expressing moderate levels of anger had nearly half the risk of nonfatal heart attacks and significant reductions in stroke compared to men with low levels of anger expression.

Researcher Patricia Eng, of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues concluded that their findings indicate "a more complex pattern of associations between anger and cardiovascular disease than previously described."

The study involved 23,522 men aged 50 to 85 who completed surveys that asked them to rate how often they behaved in certain ways when they were angry, choosing from options like "I argue with others" and "I do things like slam doors." From their answers, the researchers were able to gauge the level of anger that the men expressed.

Eng and colleagues also documented 328 cases of cardiovascular disease among the men in the two years following the survey.

Among healthy men with no prior history of cardiovascular disease, the protective effects of anger expression were unrelated to how often the men reported feeling angry. Among men who already had heart disease, however, an increased frequency of angry feelings was significantly associated with an increased risk of another bout of heart disease.

Eng said individuals with high socioeconomic status are more likely to lead healthier lifestyles and to be in positions of power where they can express anger freely, which may modify any "potentially toxic effects of anger or hostility."

Other sources: Health Behavior News Service