SAN ANTONIO — We've all heard that your mental and emotional health have a direct impact on your physical health. In this Verify, we find how being an angry person could have a serious detriment to your physical health.
THE QUESTION
Could feeling angry for as little as eight minutes a day raise your risk of a cardiovascular event?
THE SOURCES
- Dr. Lou Vadlamani, a cardiologist and founder of VitalSolution
- A study published in the American Heart Association.
THE ANSWER
TRUE
WHAT WE FOUND
Dr. Vadlamani told us, "Certainly physiologically it makes sense that it would predispose you to certain things like heart attacks or strokes, ruptured aneurysms, etc., because it's an acute spike in your blood pressure and, you know, an acute increase in your heart rate. Anything your body can't adjust to quickly is usually harmful."
The study in the Journal of the AHA looked at 280 young adults with no cardiovascular problems. They were told to relax for 30 minutes while doctors tracked their vitals.
Next, they were given eight-minute tasks while their vitals were still tracked, and were then asked to think about different memories to trigger anxiety, anger, and sadness.
Among those who were told to recall anger, their blood vessel dilation was cut by 50% within 40 minutes of the task, greatly increasing their chance of a heart attack or stroke.
So yes, it is true. Feeling angry for as little as eight minutes a day could raise your risk of a cardiovascular event.
Dr. Vadlamani also told us anything we can do to control the number of angry events in a given amount of time to reduce the frequency and duration is the best way to avoid cardiovascular problems that could be caused by anger.