Working Up Your Heart Attack Risk

Keeping emotions bottled up inside could lead to health problems, according to a Swedish study. The survey, which involved 2,755 men with an average age of 41, confirmed previous findings and found that bottling up frustration and anger at work made men two to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or die from heart disease. Men who held in their feelings or let off steam once they got home experienced a doubled risk of heart attack and death, while men who walked away or let things pass without saying anything experienced heart risks five times greater than those who vent frustration openly. More studies are needed to confirm the connection between anger and heart problems, but if validated, confronting unfair treatment may become an important factor in reducing the rates of heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.