A brief episode of anger can negatively affect your blood vessels’ ability to relax.

A brief episode of anger triggered by remembering past experiences can negatively affect the ability of blood vessels to relax, which is essential for proper blood flow, according to new research published today in the journal Journal of the American Heart Associationan open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Previous research has found that impaired blood vessels’ ability to relax can increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis, which, in turn, can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

“Impaired vascular function is linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Daichi Shimbo, a professor of medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. . “Observational studies have linked feelings of negative emotions to heart attack or other cardiovascular diseases. The most common negative emotion studied is anger, and there are fewer studies on anxiety and sadness, which have also been linked to risk.” of heart attack.”

In this study, researchers investigated whether negative emotions -; anger, sadness and anxiety -; can have an adverse impact on blood vessel function compared to a neutral emotion. The 280 adults in the study were randomly assigned to one of four emotional tasks for 8 minutes: recalling a personal memory that made them angry; remember a personal memory of anxiety; read a series of depressing sentences that evoked sadness; or repeatedly counting to 100 to induce an emotionally neutral state. This protocol, “Putative Mechanisms Underlying Myocardial Infarction Occurrence and Emotions (PUME),” was described by the researchers in a previous article.

The researchers evaluated the cells lining the blood vessels of each study participant before the tasks and at several points afterward, looking for evidence of impaired blood vessel dilation, increased cellular injury, and/or reduced cellular repair capacity. Measurements taken before the emotional tasks were repeated after completion.

Measurements were taken for each participant at baseline (0 minutes) and at four different times after experiencing the assigned emotional task: 3 minutes, 40 minutes, 70 minutes, and 100 minutes. The analysis found:

• Tasks recalling past events that caused anger caused a deterioration in blood vessel dilation, from zero to 40 minutes after the task. The deterioration was no longer present after 40 minutes.
• There were no statistically significant changes in the participants’ blood vessel linings at any time after experiencing the emotional tasks of anxiety and sadness.

“We saw that evoking a state of anger led to blood vessel dysfunction, although we still don’t understand what can cause these changes,” Shimbo said. “Investigating the underlying links between anger and blood vessel dysfunction may help identify effective intervention targets for people at increased risk for cardiovascular events.”

According to a 2021 scientific statement from the American Heart Association, Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection, mental well-being can positively or negatively affect a person’s health and risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

“This study adds to the growing evidence base that mental well-being can affect cardiovascular health and that acute and intense emotional states, such as anger or stress, can lead to cardiovascular events.”

Glenn Levine, MD, FAHA, chair of the scientific statement writing committee, clinical master and professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and chief of the section of cardiology at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston

“For example, we know that intense sadness or similar emotions are a common trigger for Takatsubo cardiomyopathy, and events such as earthquakes or even being a fan watching a world football match, which cause stress, can lead to myocardial infarction and/or arrhythmias. This current study shows very eloquently how anger can negatively affect the health and function of the vascular endothelium, and we know that the vascular endothelium, the lining of blood vessels, is a key player in myocardial ischemia and disease. “The psychological states and impact on cardiovascular health have been elucidated, this study clearly brings us one step closer to defining these mechanisms.”

Background and details of the study:

• The Putative Mechanisms Underlying Myocardial Infarction Onset and Emotions (PUME) study is a randomized controlled experimental study conducted between August 2013 and May 2017.
• Participants were recruited from the community surrounding Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.
• Participants were 18 years or older and healthy. In this study, healthy was defined as no history of heart disease, stroke, bypass surgery or stents, transient ischemic attack, peripheral arterial disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, or self-reported diagnosis of disease. mental. health disorder; do not take any prescription medications or dietary supplements; and not currently smoke.
• The average age of study participants was 26 years. Approximately 50% of participants identified as women. About 40% of participants identified as white adults; 29% as Hispanic/Latino adults; 19% as Asian adults; and 14% as black adults.
• The health of participants’ blood vessels was assessed before and after completing emotional tasks using finger probes that detect changes in blood flow in the arteries.
• Before completing the emotional tasks, participants were seated in a comfortable chair in a temperature-controlled room and instructed to relax for 30 minutes, during which time they were not allowed to talk, use their phones, read any documents or sleep.
• After the participants had relaxed for 30 minutes, the researchers measured the participants’ blood pressure with a cuff and the corresponding heart rate. Two blood pressure measurements were taken one minute apart, then the dilation of the participants’ blood vessels was measured and blood samples were collected for testing. Repeat measurements of blood pressure and dilation were performed, and blood samples were collected again after completing the assigned emotional task.
• The researchers determined the extent to which participants’ blood vessels could not dilate by measuring blood flow in the participants’ nondominant forearm. They assessed injury to participants’ blood vessels by counting the number of biomarkers lining circulating blood vessels in the blood and assessed the regenerative capacity of participants’ vascular cells by measuring their circulating levels of bone marrow-derived cells, which are essential for repair. .

Limitations of the study included that the participants were young and apparently healthy, “making it unclear whether the results would apply to older adults with other health conditions, who would likely be taking medications,” Shimbo noted. Additionally, participants were observed in a healthcare setting, rather than in real-world situations, and the study only assessed the short-term effects of evoked emotions.