Anger a Threat to the Heart

By JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN

Nov. 13, 2006 — ANGER MAY TRIGGER DANGEROUS HEART RHYTHMS Anger may trigger life-threatening rhythm disturbances in the heart, researchers find in a new study of over a thousand patients. Doctors studied the relationship between emotions and heart rhythms in a group of people with heart disease who had special devices implanted near their hearts. The devices, called implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs, monitor heart rhythms and deliver a shock when necessary to correct any potentially fatal disturbances. Researchers studied 200 patients whose ICDs had delivered a shock. The results showed that people were more than three times as likely to have a rhythm disturbance after they had become at least moderately angry and more than 16 times as likely to get a shock after they had become furious. Heart specialists say this underscores the importance of counseling patients who have had cardiac health problems to try to reduce stress in their lives. These findings were presented at the 2006 American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

DANCE YOUR WAY TO A HEALTHIER HEART Dancing improves the ability to function and increases the quality of life among chronic heart failure patients, and may be a good alternative to other aerobic exercises, according to new research presented this weekend at the 2006 American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. The study, conducted on 110 patients in Italy, found that dancing, especially waltzing, induced the same physiological benefits as standard aerobic activity. The dancers also reported an improved quality of life compared to those that engaged in traditional exercise.

AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE HIGHER DEATH RATE FROM HEART DISEASE Heart disease takes a higher toll on African-American patients with heart disease than it does white patients, Duke University researchers find in a study of more than 20,000 people presented at the 2006 American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. Among patients with serious heart disease who were followed for an average of nine years, blacks had a 36 percent survival rate compared to a 46 percent survival rate for whites. Researchers say the difference is partly due to the fact that blacks more often have other medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, which can contribute to heart disease.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.