Anger Linked to Stroke Risk in Men
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:34 a.m. ET

DALLAS (AP) -- Hotheaded men who explode with anger seem to be at
greater risk of having a stroke or dying, new research shows. Their
risk is even greater than men who are simply stressed-out Type A
personalities.

Angry women, on the other hand, don't run as high a risk of having a
stroke or heart problems, according to a study released Monday in the
American Heart Association journal Circulation.

The study showed that men who express their anger have a 10 percent
greater risk than non-hostile men of developing an atrial
fibrillation, a heart flutter that 2 million Americans have. It is
non-threatening for many, but it can also increase the risk of stroke.

Men who unleashed their anger were also 20 percent more likely to have
died from any cause during the study.

``There has been a perception that you can dissipate the negative
health effects of anger by letting anger out instead of bottling it
up,'' said Dr. Elaine Eaker, lead researcher and president of Eaker
Epidemiology Enterprises in Chili, Wis. ``But that was not the case in
this study.''

It also found that men who are generally hostile and contemptuous of
other people are 30 percent more likely to develop the irregular heart
rhythm than men with less hostility.

Atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke because the heart's two upper
chambers don't beat effectively enough to pump out all the blood,
allowing it to pool, form clots and increase stroke risk.

Researchers have long known about the link between anger and hostility
and heart disease, but this study offers a more definitive
association, said Dr. John Osborne, a cardiologist at Baylor
University Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas, who was not involved in
the study.

``There's a lot of things we understand about atrial fibrillation ...
but the question is what triggers it,'' Osborne said. ``I think this
may give us a better appreciation.''

The research also is significant because, unlike other studies, it was
long-term and based on a large group of people, he said.

The study analyzed more than 3,000 adult children of the original
participants of a landmark study begun in 1948 in Framingham, Mass.

Eaker said that the findings mean scientists can say with more
confidence that anger and hostility serve as an independent risk
factor. The researchers also determined there is no increased risk in
men who rate high in Type A behavior -- men who are often rushed,
impatient and competitive.

More studies are needed to confirm the study, she said, because the
Framingham study was not ethnically diverse and it's always helpful to
have replication.

``While we're confident its accurate, it's not appropriate to say it's
definitive,'' she said.

The study followed 1,769 men and 1,913 women who had no signs of heart
disease for 10 years.

Even when other risk factors were accounted for, such as other heart
problems, high blood pressure, cholesterol and age, certain men still
developed an irregular heartbeat.

``It was related to their attitude and temperament,'' said Eaker, who
conducted the study with colleagues at Boston University and the
Framingham study.

Researchers did not find a significant link between anger and
hostility and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation in the women
in the study.

Men have more heart disease at a younger age than women, so
researchers may need to follow the women longer, Eaker said.

Osborne said when he first heard about the study, he thought about the
old phrase, ``Don't get mad, get even.''

``I interpret it as one more indication that women are smarter than
men,'' he said. ``They don't go into rages.''