Angry Outbursts Endanger Your Heart

Think twice before your next angry outburst. Explosive anger has been tied to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and brain aneurysms, particularly within the hours after an outburst.

A study published in the European Heart Journal has conducted a comprehensive review of scientific evidence linking anger to adverse cardiovascular events. Researchers found nine appropriate studies conducted between 1966 and 2013 that investigated the link between anger and heart attacks or stroke.

These nine studies were then investigated further and their collected data was combined for a new comprehensive analysis. According to the review, more than 4,500 cases of heart attack, 800 cases of stroke, and approximately 760 general cardiovascular complications were part of the combined data.

What researchers found was alarming. Within two hours of an angry outburst, a person's risk of heart attack and other heart-related problems rose nearly 500 percent. Within the same window of time, the risk of stroke in the average individual was quadrupled.  Still, it should be noted that the risk of stroke and heart attack in the average person is very low to begin with, so even with the multiplicative properties of an angry outburst, the chances of a resulting heart attack remain minimal.

To put this in perspective, the researchers wrote that people with healthy hearts who get angry only about once a month would only raise their chances of heart attack by 1 in 10,000. Among people who get angry more often, multiple bouts of anger in a day results in an estimated 158 extra heart attack per 10,000 people annually.

Still, people with high heart risk, such as sufferers of heart disease, should be far more cautious. Because their risk of heart attack and stroke is already so high, multiplying their chances during a bout of anger could prove extremely dangerous.

The study concluded with the research team recommending that physicians pay special attention to detrimental personality traits like anger in their patients. If a high hear risk patient shows signs of being prone to anger, it would be beneficial if the physician recommended a to control it, possibly even referring them to a therapist.

The study was published in the European Heart Journal on March 3.