Getting angry for even a brief moment may impair blood vessel function, finds study

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

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

In the study. researchers investigated the impact of negative emotions like anger, sadness, and anxiety on blood vessel function compared to a neutral emotion in 280 adults. Participants were randomly assigned emotional tasks: recalling anger, anxiety, sadness, or performing a neutral task. Blood vessel function was assessed before and after tasks to identify any changes in dilation, cell injury, or repair capacity. Measurements were taken at baseline and at four time points after the emotional task: 3, 40, 70, and 100 minutes.

The analysis found that:

1. Tasks that recalled past events causing anger led to an impairment in blood vessel dilation, from zero to 40 minutes after the task. The impairment was no longer present after the 40-minute mark.

2. There were no statistically significant changes to participants’ blood vessel linings at any time points after experiencing the anxiety and sadness emotional tasks.

“This study underscores how intense emotions like anger can harm vascular endothelial health, which is critical in heart diseases. It adds to evidence linking mental well-being to cardiovascular health, showing how acute emotions such as stress or sadness can trigger cardiac events like heart attacks or arrhythmias,” said Glenn Levine, chief of the cardiology section at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston.

Reference: Daichi Shimbo, M.D. et al; Brief anger may impair blood vessel function; Journal of the American Heart Association; DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.123.0326981