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Hostility Predicts Heart Disease
Nov. 18, 2002 -- Hostility levels may be a better predictor of heart disease risk than "traditional" factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and being overweight, suggests a new study.
Researchers found that heart attacks, chest pains, or other signs of heart disease occurred much more frequently among men who measured as hostile on a personality test than in men who clearly had more traditional risk factors. In fact, the only such measurement that predicted heart disease risk more accurately than hostility was HDL "good" cholesterol levels.
"On the one hand, we're not surprised by our results because there's a lot of evidence suggesting that hostility plays a big role in heart disease," says researcher Avron Spiro III, PhD, of Boston University School of Public Health. "Of course, the finding that it's the biggest predictor of heart disease might be surprising if you look at these results at face value."
He notes that the nearly 800 men in this study, published in the November issue of Health Psychology, are part of an ongoing aging study that began in 1960. The men have thorough medical exams every three years and receive ongoing preventative healthcare advice.
"Since they have been part of a longitudinal study for 40 years, they are healthier than the average man to begin with, and have fewer heart disease risks," Spiro tells WebMD. "Perhaps the reason why hostility was such a factor in predicting heart disease is because these men had a narrower range of other factors like high cholesterol or high blood pressure."
Their average age was 60 when their hostility levels were measured in a personality test and compared with other heart disease risks. In three years of follow-up, 45 of the men reported at least one heart-related medical event. The researchers found that men scoring highest in hostility were most likely to develop heart trouble.
While some health experts might debate hostility's "ranking" as a risk factor, few would argue against the evidence that suggests hostile people are more prone to heart disease.
The reasons?
"In some studies, people with high hostility levels have shown more pronounced blood pressure and heart rate responses when they are put into situations designed to make them angry -- or even asked to think about them," says psychiatrist Redford Williams, MD, author of Anger Kills and an authority on the heart-damaging effects of hostility. "So there is evidence of a physiologic reaction.
"And we also know that hostile people are just more likely to practice habits that increase heart disease risk," Williams tells WebMD. "We tracked one group of men for 25 years, starting when they were college students. We found that when they were in their mid-40s, those who scored highest for hostility on this same personality test were more likely to be smokers, have high cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and lower HDLs, and have a higher body mass index."
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