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Some women who make a habit of venting their anger may be more likely to develop blockages in the heart arteries, new research suggests.
Past studies have linked anger and hostility to a greater risk of heart disease, but most of those focused on men.
These latest findings, published in the Journal of Women's Health, suggest that there is a relationship between anger and heart health in women, but it is complex.
Researchers found that women who tended to outwardly express their anger had a higher risk of artery blockages if they also had one of several other heart risk factors: older age, diabetes or high cholesterol.
Other measures of hostility, such as suppressed anger and a hostile temperament, were unrelated to the risk of coronary artery disease.
It is possible that expressed anger was the most "toxic" aspect of a hostile temperament, say the study authors, led by Dr David S. Krantz of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science in Bethesda, Maryland.
On the other hand, it's not clear that anger contributed to the development of their heart disease. In fact, the study found that the highest levels of anger and hostility - expressed or not - were seen in women with more severe symptoms but no evidence of blockages in their heart arteries.
It is possible that this finding reflects the women's frustration at not having a diagnosis for their chest pain and other symptoms, said cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, director of Women's Health at CedarsSinai Medical Centre.
The results are based on 636 women taking part in the government-funded Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study, an investigation aimed at improving heart disease diagnosis in women. All the participants had chest pain or other potential symptoms of coronary artery disease, and underwent angiography to look for blockages in the heart arteries.
The women also completed standard tests of anger and hostility, which gauge whether a person has an anger-prone temperament, and how he or she deals with it - outwardly expressing it or keeping it inside.
Only expressed anger was linked to the risk of showing objective artery blockages on an angiogram, but women who had more symptoms scored higher on all measures of anger and hostility than women with fewer symptoms.
A better understanding of how anger and other emotions affect heart health could aid in diagnosing coronary heart disease, the researchers say.
The findings also suggest that women with unexplained chest pain may need help in dealing with the psychological effects of remaining undiagnosed.
- REUTERS
