Anger May Increase Your Heart Attack Risk

When you get stressed or angry, you may feel your blood pressure go up, or you may start to have pain in your chest. A recent study published in the European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care found that you may actually be feeling these symptoms when you are stressed because your risk of heart attack increases in the two hours after an angry outburst.

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia looked at around 300 patients who had recently had a heart attack. They were asked how they felt in the 48 hours before their heart attack on a scale of one (meaning “calm”) to 7 (meaning “outraged, out of control”). Those who reported a feeling of at least 5, or “very angry,” were about 9 times more likely to have a heart attack in the 2 hours after their angry outburst than those who scored lower on the scale.

Experts report that anger can raise your risk of heart attack, since it can increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood clotting, and even narrow your blood vessels. All of these symptoms make your heart work harder than it should. Therefore, it is suggested that to help yourself recover from a heart attack, or to prevent one from happening, you should be seek out resources to help you better manage stress.

To this extent, stress management is as important as healthy cholesterol, triglyceride and blood glucose levels.