Does Anger Increase the Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke?

When we suddenly get angry, our heart rate increases, but can a few minutes of anger really harm our health?

Several British media recently reported that short bursts of anger or rage increase the risk of heart attack or stroke within the next 40 minutes and can lead to coronary heart disease in the long term.

This is new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which showed that the cells in the blood vessels of the test subjects did not function properly when they were asked to remember something that made them angry.

American researchers found that the blood vessels of people who felt angry 40 minutes later dilated less than usual. They said that over time this could lead to damage to the blood vessels, which would increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

This is not the first time anger has been linked to heart and circulatory disease. A 2014 study published in the European Heart Journal, which analyzed nine studies, found that people are at greater risk of heart attack or stroke in the two hours after a tantrum. However, it is not clear why anger has this effect.

The latest study, conducted by researchers at Columbia University in New York with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), aimed to take the first step toward uncovering this phenomenon.

Emotions and the heart

The researchers gathered 280 healthy adults and divided them into four groups. Each group performed a task for eight minutes in order to evoke certain emotions.

One group was asked to remember something that made them angry, another group remembered something that made them upset, a third group read sentences that made them feel sad, while a fourth group had to remain emotionally neutral, counting from one up to a hundred. This latter group was used as a control group for comparison.

Before and after the task, the researchers measured how much the subjects’ blood vessels dilated to allow normal blood flow.

The results showed that the blood vessels of the people in the group who were angry did not dilate enough 40 minutes after the task, while after 70 minutes they equaled the results of the control group. Emotions such as anxiety and sadness did not have the same effect.

What do the researchers say?

The researchers said the aim of the study was to examine the immediate effect of anger on blood vessels.

Although they did not prove that short bursts of anger increase the risk of heart disease in the long term, they hypothesized that “repeated episodes of negative emotions” may damage blood vessels over time and contribute to the development of heart and circulatory diseases.

Conclusion

An occasional bout of anger will not suddenly increase your risk of heart attack or stroke, adds the British Heart Foundation. Although the study showed that anger temporarily affects blood vessels, more research is needed to determine the long-term effect. If you have problems with stress, breathing exercises are useful and can help reduce tension.