Thursday, April 22, 2010

Why bottling up anger could be the way to an early grave

People with heart disease who bottle up their anger are at nearly three times the risk of having a heart attack or dying over the next 5-10 years. Researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands looked into the influence of type D personality in a study of 644 patients who were followed for an average of about six years. Type D personalities are prone to suffer from anger and other negative emotions and often bottle their anger up because they find it difficult to express themselves in social situations. There was a significant relationship between suppressed anger and the risk of heart attack or death even after the researchers adjusted for factors like blood pressure and heart disease severity. Nearly 20% of people with a type D personality had high levels of suppressed anger compared to only 4% of the rest of the sample. Having a type D personality quadrupled the risk of having a heart attack or dying during the course of the study.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE63K57A20100421?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

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