Additionally, such men who said they expressed or concealed their anger, became irritable or engaged in gripe sessions were five times more likely than their calmer counterparts to have an early heart attack even without a family history of heart disease. Results are published in the April 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"In this study, hot tempers predicted disease long before other traditional risk factors like diabetes and hypertension became apparent," says Patricia P. Chang, M.D., lead author of the study and a cardiology fellow. "The most important thing angry young men can do is get professional help to manage their tempers, especially since previous studies have shown that those who already have heart disease get better with anger management."
Chang and colleagues analyzed data from the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study, a long-term investigation of 1,337 medical students who were enrolled at Hopkins between 1948 and 1964 and who continue to be followed. In medical school and through the follow-up period, information on family history and health behaviors has been collected.
For this report, the investigators tracked 1,055 men for an average of 36 years following medical school to examine the risk of premature and total cardiovascular disease associated with anger responses to stress during early adult life. During medical school and in 1992, all participants were given a "nervous tension" questionnaire that sought clues to how they responded to undue pressure or stress. Expressed or concealed anger, irritability and gripe sessions were the three responses defined as indicating the most anger.
Responding to the questionnaire during medical school, 229 men said they expressed or concealed their anger, 169 said they
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Contact: Karen Blum
kblum@jhmi.edu
410-955-1534
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
21-Apr-2002