The next time a cold call or a traffic jam makes your blood boil, take a deep breath and try to relax.
Because anger can really kill you, American scientists warned today.
Researchers found that brief moments of anger can impair blood vessel function, potentially increasing the risk of having a heart attack or stroke for up to 40 minutes.
Dr Daichi Shimbo, study author and professor of medicine at Columbia University, said: “We saw that evoking a state of anger led to blood vessel dysfunction.
“Although we still don’t understand what can cause these changes.”
While some warning signs are easy to spot, such as severe chest pain, others are more vague and difficult to identify.
Stroke symptoms are commonly remembered by this four-letter acronym, FAST. Patients who suffer a stroke may often have their face drooping to one side, have difficulty raising both arms and difficulty speaking, while time is of the essence as immediate treatment for a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or A minor stroke can substantially reduce the risk of having a stroke. much deadlier stroke
The researchers described this effect as an “impairment of blood vessel dilation.”
Disruption of blood supply can, in theory, cause a heart attack or stroke.
The researchers analyzed data from 280 volunteers, on average 26 years old.
All participants were instructed to relax for 30 minutes, during which they were not allowed to talk, use their phones, read, or sleep.
A blood pressure reading was taken before each was randomly assigned one of four eight-minute tasks.
one oneHe asked them to remember a personal memory that made them angry.
Others asked volunteers to remember a moment of anxiety or read a series of depressing phrases designed to evoke a feeling of sadness.
A fourth, emotionally neutral task required participants to repeatedly count to 100.
Measurements of blood pressure and vessel dilation were taken after three minutes and again at 40, 70 and 100 minutes later.
Blood samples were also taken to evaluate cellular health.
The researchers found: “Tasks recalling past events that caused anger led to impaired blood vessel dilation, from zero to 40 minutes after the task.
‘The deterioration was no longer present after 40 minutes.
“There were no statistically significant changes in the lining of the participants’ blood vessels at any time after experiencing the emotional tasks of anxiety and sadness.”
writing in the Journal of the American Heart AssociationHowever, the researchers acknowledged the small size of the study.
They noted that “it was unclear whether the results would apply to older adults with other health conditions, who would likely be taking medications.”
Dr. Glenn Levine, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who was not involved in the research, said: “This study adds nicely to the growing evidence base that mental well-being can impact cardiovascular health. and that intense acute emotional states, such as anger or stress, can cause 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 match, that cause stress, can lead to a myocardial infarction (a heart attack) or arrhythmias.”
This graph shows the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease in those under 75 years of age in England (blue bars), which is the number of deaths per 100,000 people, as well as the total number of deaths (red line). Medical advances and advanced screening techniques have helped reduce these numbers since 2004, but progress began to stall in the early 2010s before reversing in recent years of data.
Other telltale signs of an impending stroke, equally common, often go unnoticed. These include sudden numbness on one side of the body, sudden vertigo, and difficulty swallowing.
Earlier this year, alarming data revealed that premature deaths from cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes, have reached their highest level in more than a decade.
Cases of heart attacks, heart failure and stroke among those under 75 had been declining since the 1960s thanks to plummeting smoking rates, advanced surgical techniques and advances such as stents and statins.
But rising rates of obesity and its catalog of associated health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, are now believed to be one of the main contributing factors.
Slow ambulance response times for category 2 calls in England, which include suspected heart attacks and strokes, as well as long waits for tests and treatment, have also been attributed to the rise, which is also being felt in adults. younger.
Despite the claims of anti-vaxxers, cardiologists say fears that Covid vaccines may have led to a rise in heart problems are wildly misplaced.
