Chill Out: Anger Is Bad For the Heart
National Heart Health Month may be drawing to a close, but keeping your ticker healthy is daily affair. In fact, matters of the heart are affected by what goes on in your head; chronic negative emotions, like anger and stress, might damage the heart.
In a recent Yale University study, anger appeared to interfere with the electrical signals of heart patients. When the electrical signals of the heart become erratic, the heart can abruptly stop beating, leading to cardiac arrest. Emotional stress can tax the heart in the same fashion as physical stress, and in already vulnerable populations, this can lead to trouble. While the direct affects of anger on the heart in populations with healthy hearts has yet to be studied, this test helps us all understand the emotional connection between our emotional life and the health of our heart. If you tend to run a little hot-headed, now might be the time to learn how to cool off before you overheat your heart.
