Anger Makes Way For Heart Problems

Are you susceptible to tempestuous tantrums? Well then - beware! Type A behavioral pattern creates fertile ground for heightened cardiac risk, including stroke, according to a new study published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers working at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Baltimore, a division of the National Institutes of Health, uncovered that people given to anger and aggressiveness evidenced greater thickness of the carotid arteries in the neck, which is responsible in a major way for a heart attack or stroke, in comparison to more plain sailing individuals. The study underlines the need to determine personality traits while screening patients for cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in America, where heart attacks claim about 1.2 million and strokes 800,000 lives each year. Ultrasound imaging, used in measuring carotid artery and arterial wall thickness, showed that even young people displaying antagonistic inclinations were frightfully at risk from cardiac illnesses even if they weren't at risk from other factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. Clearly, a more fulfilling world awaits those willing to toss out their ire...

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