Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Updated : February 19, 2015 4:54 PM IST
Anger, anxiety and depression not only affect the functioning of the heart, but also increase the risk for heart disease, scientists have warned. Stroke and heart attacks are the end products of progressive damage to blood vessels supplying the heart and brain, a process called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis progresses when there are high levels of chemicals in the body called pro-inflammatory cytokines.
It is thought that persisting stress increases the risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease by evoking negative emotions that, in turn, raise the levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals in the body. Researchers have now investigated the underlying neural circuitry of this process.
'Drawing upon the observation that many of the same brain areas involved in emotion are also involved in sensing and regulating levels of inflammation in the body, we hypothesised that brain activity linked to negative emotions - specifically efforts to regulate negative emotions - would relate to physical signs of risk for heart disease,' said Dr Peter Gianaros, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and first author on the study.
Gianaros and his colleagues recruited 157 healthy adult volunteers who were asked to regulate their emotional reactions to unpleasant pictures while their brain activity was measured with functional imaging. Researchers also scanned their arteries for signs of atherosclerosis to assess heart disease risk and measured levels of inflammation in the bloodstream, a major physiological risk factor for atherosclerosis and premature death by heart disease.
They found that individuals who show greater brain activation when regulating their negative emotions also exhibit elevated blood levels of interleukin-6, one of the body's pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased thickness of the carotid artery wall, a marker of atherosclerosis. The inflammation levels accounted for the link between signs of atherosclerosis and brain activity patterns seen during emotion regulation.
'These new findings agree with the popular belief that emotions are connected to heart health,' said Gianaros. 'We think that the mechanistic basis for this connection may lie in the functioning of brain regions important for regulating both emotion and inflammation. 'These findings may have implications for brain-based prevention and intervention efforts to improve heart health and protect against heart disease,' said Gianaros. The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Other than being risky for the heart anger has several other negative effects:
It literally makes your blood boil
While most scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how anger raises your blood pressure it has been seen that anger and hostility activates the evolutionarily innate 'fight or flight response' in most humans which leads to increased adrenaline and cortisol which pumps you're your heart rate. This in turn leads to increased blood pressure and the problem is compounded by blood vessels constricting. [3]Read about the the herbal remedies for hypertension.
It can seriously impair your judgement
One of the major problems when you're angry is that you cognitive skills get impaired, that your mental health gets affected. It makes the consequences look insignificant and you can actually process less information. It makes you more prejudiced about others and hinders your analytical skills. This often leads you doing things that you wouldn't in normal circumstances and will cause you to regret your actions when you look back. [4]
It can actually give you headache
When you're angry, stress causes your neck and scalp muscles to tense up which causes a tight band-like sensation around the head which causes something the medicos like to call a tension headache. You can fix this issue by a simply massaging your head and taking deep breaths. [5]
It can make your seriously depressed
It's still not clear whether anger causes depression or vice-versa but those suffering from depression tend to display bouts of anger from time to time. It also leads to all the aforementioned physiological conditions which can only aggravate the chances of getting depressed. Angeralso leads to insomnia and stress; things that are likelier to make you depressed. [6]That's why it's far better to control your anger. Read why understand depression is half the battle won.
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