Heart Attack Risk Rises with Angry Outbursts

Getting angry every once and a while is a normal part of releasing built up emotions. But getting overly upset often could put some at a higher risk for a heart attack, according to a recent study.

"It is not surprising that such an association is seen since we know that anger is associated with increased reaction of the body's nervous system to stress," said an expert, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, according to Philly.

For the study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed nine studies conducted on heart attack risks between 1996 and 2013, encompassing a total of 4,500 cases of heart attacks, 462 cases of acute coronary syndrome and more than 300 cases of heart rhythm complications and 800 cases of stroke.

The researchers calculated that within a two hour period following an angry outburst, an individual's risk of heart attack or acute coronary syndrome and stroke increased by up to four or five times. For some, the risk of a fatal heart rhythm disorder also increased.

"Anger causes our heart rate to increase through the sympathetic nervous system and causes our stress hormones to become elevated (the fight or flight mechanism)," explained Dr. Mariell Jessup, president of the American Heart Association and medical director of the Penn Heart and Vascular Center at the University of Pennsylvania, via thealmagest.com.

Worse yet, researchers also estimated that up to five angry episodes per day could lead to an extra 158 heart attacks for every 10,000 people who normally have a low heart attack risk, per year. For those who suffered from a high cardiovascular risk, an additional five episodes per day would add 657 extra heart attacks per 10,000 people per year.

"Although the risk of experiencing an acute cardiovascular event with any single outburst of anger is relatively low, the risk can accumulate for people with frequent episodes of anger," Dr. Elizabeth Mostofsky said according to BBC News.

Researchers stress the importance of managing anger effectively to cope with stress better in order to eliminate even the smallest risks. 

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More information regarding the study can be found via the European Heart Journal.