Hostile Men at Increased Heart Risk

According to the findings of researchers at Duke University Medical Center, hostile men and those who frequently display intense feelings of anger and depression increase their risk of coronary heart disease and related conditions including type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Such men also harm their immune systems.

The study was part of a larger 20-year study on the effects of Agent Orange and covered 313 male veterans of the Vietnam War. It was led by Dr. Steven Boyle of Duke University. The researchers administered a standard psychological test to the veterans to assess the latter’s hostility, depression and anger.

In a 10 year period from 1992 to 2002, the veterans also underwent a serious of blood tests. The tests checked two immune system proteins known as C3 and C4. Both these proteins are markers of inflammation and their levels are high when the body is responding to injury or infection through inflammation. Changes in C3 and C4 are associated with a number of diseases, some of which can adversely affect the arteries around the heart.

The researchers observed a 7.1% increase in C3 levels in men who displayed the highest levels of hostility, symptoms of depression and anger in the psychological screening. On the other hand, no changes in C3 levels were seen over the 10-year study period in men with low levels of these attributes.

The researchers made adjustments for other risk factors such as smoking, age, race, alcohol abuse and BMI, all of which boost C3 levels. Yet they effects of hostility and anger on C3 levels remained intact. At the same time, no significant increase in C4 levels was observed in either group of men.

“We showed positives associations between psychological attributes and 10-year changes in C3 among initially healthy middle-aged males,” the researchers note in their study report published in the August edition of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

“Hostile, depressed and angry people see the world around them in a different way, and sometimes they see it as them against the world,” said study co-author Dr. Edward Suarez. “That kind of lifestyle often leads to greater stress and possibly changes in the way the body functions that could lead to disease.”

Could psychological treatment reduce C3 levels? “At present, we do not know if interventions to reduce hostility and anger would lead to a decrease in C3 or other markers of inflammation,” Dr. Boyle said. However, he added, “Even if inflammation is not decreased by such interventions, lower levels of anger and hostility will likely lead to better relationships and increased well-being.”

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