Why letting go of anger is good for your health
Scientists studied the impact of recalling negative memories on blood vessels
Letting go of past grudges is vital to health after scientists found even brief bouts of anger from recalling memories impair blood vessels, raising the risk of a stroke and heart attack.
Doctors have long known that when people lose their temper they are at far greater risk of heart problems until they calm down.
But until now, it was unclear what was causing the effect.
To find out, researchers asked 280 adults to recall a personal memory that made them either angry, anxious or depressed. A control group was asked to count to 100 to induce an emotionally neutral state.
The team found that when participants became angry after remembering past experiences, the function of cells lining the blood vessels was negatively impaired for 40 minutes, an effect which is likely to restrict blood flow.
In contrast, anxiety and sadness did not trigger the same change in the functioning of the blood vessel lining.
“Impaired vascular function is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke,” said Dr Daichi Shimbo, professor of medicine at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.
“We saw that evoking an angered state led to blood vessel dysfunction, though we don’t yet understand what may cause these changes. “Investigation into the underlying links between anger and blood vessel dysfunction may help identify effective intervention targets for people at increased risk of cardiovascular events.”
Blood vessels are not just tubes but have an inner lining which controls how relaxed or constricted the vessels are. Anger causes a release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol and raises blood pressure, but the mechanism behind the effect has been unclear.
