Women who regularly express anger may be more likely to develop heart disease, which kills more women than men in this country.
Researchers led by Bethesda’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences studied 636 women around the country and found those with more cardiac symptoms had higher anger and hostility scores than those who reported fewer symptoms. They published their findings in the current issue of the Journal of Women’s Health.
“Intuitively, you’d say, ‘Gee if you have stress or anger in your life, let’s do some things to ameliorate that,’” rather than getting angry, said Dr. Douglas Clarke, cardiologist at St. Joseph Medical Center.
More research on how anger and other emotions affect heart health is needed before anger can be used as a red flag to diagnose heart problems, Clarke said.
These results possibly reflect the frustration of undiagnosed women suffering from chest pain or other less definitive symptoms, according to the study.
Unlike men, the most prominent symptom of heart disease women feel may not be chest pain. Other signs include neck, shoulder, upper back or abdominal discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness and fatigue, said Dr. Momina Mastoor, cardiologist at Union Memorial Hospital.
“If you have a woman who has symptoms that don’t make sense, a lot of times they’re frustrated because they feel as if they’re not taken seriously and they don’t get the referrals because their symptoms are vague,” she said. “They’ve been ignored and this perpetuates the anger.” It’s not just a frustration, according to research by cardiologist Dennis Goodman, M.D., of San Diego.
“Lack of timely diagnosis and treatment has cost thousands of women’s lives every year.”
Women should be aware of risk factors, including family history of heart problems, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and a sedentary lifestyle, Clarke said.
– By Kristin Vorce
Fast facts
» Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women, killing one in two women.
» 270,000 women die from heart attacks, i.e., six times more frequently than
from breast cancer.
» More than 8 million American women live with heart disease.
» Women only comprise one quarter of participants in all heart-related research studies.
Source: Dr. Dennis Goodman
