Heart attack risk: if you get angry, you will be hit

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Munich"I'm boiling with rage" - there seems to be something to this saying. Apparently, outbursts of anger are a burden on our cardiovascular system, shows a study by Israeli scientists. In high-risk patients, they can cause cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks or strokes.

Crucial hours after the tantrum

The researchers led by Elizabeth Mostofsky from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center sifted through studies that had been published between 1966 and 2013. In total, they found nine papers in which patients who had suffered a heart attack or stroke also answered questions about their state of mind. The study participants indicated whether they were angry immediately before their heart attack. The anger was classified into three levels - from mild to severe.

The result: In all studies, the risk of a heart attack or stroke was increased immediately after an outburst. In the first two hours after severe anger, the likelihood of having a heart attack increased 4.7-fold. The risk of stroke increased 3.6 times. A brain aneurysm occurred 6.3 times more often than usual in the first hour after a tantrum.

Anger makes the heart stumble

One of the studies looked at how anger affected the heart rhythm - in patients with pacemakers. If they got excited, they needed an electric shock from the pacemaker immediately afterwards twice as often as at other times.

"For high-risk patients, such as people with high blood pressure, it might make sense to avoid outbursts of anger - for example with the help of medication or behavioral therapies," Mostofsky concludes from the results of the comparative study. For people with an average risk, however, the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke from a tantrum is relatively low. (away)

Source: E. Mostofsky, E. A. Penner, M. A. Mittleman: Outbursts of anger as a trigger of acute cardiovascular events: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Heart Journal, 2014

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