(From the Wichita Eagle, March 2004)
Hotheaded men who explode with anger seem to be at greater risk of having a stroke or dying, new research shows. Their risk is even greater than men who are simply stressed-out Type A personalities.
Angry women, on the other hand, don't run as high a risk of having a stroke or heart problems, according to a study released Monday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
The study showed that men who express their anger have a 10 percent greater risk than non-hostile men of developing an atrial fibrillation, a heart flutter than 2 million Americans have. It is non-threatening for many, but it can also increase the risk of stroke. Men who unleashed their anger were also 20 percent 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," lead researcher Elaine Eaker said. "But that was not the case in this study."
