How Anger Could Raise Your Heart Risks — And How to Manage it

Feeling angry can do more than just ruin your mood—it might also harm your heart health. New research suggests that frequent anger episodes could lead to chronic injuries in your blood vessels, potentially increasing your risk of heart disease in the long run. A study led by Dr. Daichi Shimbo, a cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, monitored the activity of blood vessels in people experiencing anger, anxiety, sadness, or neutral emotions. The researchers found that when individuals were angry, their blood vessels temporarily lost their ability to relax and dilate as they should. This effect persisted for up to 40 minutes after the anger subsided. “We’ve long suspected, based on observational studies, that anger can negatively affect the heart. This study in healthy adults helps fill a real knowledge gap and shows how this might occur,” says Laurie Friedman Donze, a psychologist and program officer at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which funded the study. The research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, included 280 healthy adult New York City residents under 74 years old with no history of heart disease or major heart risk factors. Participants were...