Hot-tempered man risking heart disease

Hot-headed men who explode with anger seem to be at greater risk of having a stroke, new research shows. Angry women, on the other hand, do not run as high a risk of having a stroke or heart problems, according to a study released in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

The study showed that men who express their anger have a 10% greater risk than non-hostile men of developing an atrial fibrillation, a heart flutter. It is non-threatening for many, but it can also increase the risk of stroke. Men who unleashed their anger were also 20% 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, Wisconsin. "But that was not the case in this study," inform &to=http://www.scotsman.com' target=_blank>Scotsman.com

The 10-year study of nearly 3700 Americans also found that hot-headed men were 20 per cent more likely to have died than those who stayed calm. Women were at no greater risk of a heart flutter, or atrial fibrillation, if they displayed anger and hostility.

The study, published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, is the first to link emotions with heartbeat. The research team's leader, Elaine Eaker, the president of Eaker Epidemiology Enterprises in Wisconsin, said the findings challenged popular wisdom. "There has been a perception that you can dissipate the negative health effects of anger by letting anger out instead of bottling it up," she said. "But that is definitely not the case in this study."

A popular misconception persists that type A people, with a rushed, competitive, impatient personality, are prone to heart disease, but many studies have disproved this, Dr Bunker said, report &to=http://www.smh.com.au' target=_blank>SMG.com.au