Do you shout out in anger when an in-a-rush motorist tailgates you on a highway? Do you feel your blood boiling when a fellow camper leaves rubbish laying around the site? Â Do you grit your teeth and clench your fists in fury when you hear of another free camp being closed down?
If the answer is yes to all or some of the above, then it could be time to take a proverbial ‘chill pill’.
New research published in the European Heart Journal reveals that losing your temper could trigger a heart attack or stroke.
A Harvard Medical School research team found that an angry outburst increased the risk of a heart attack in the following two hours by between 2.4 and 7.3 times. For a stroke, it was between 1.7 and 7.6 times. Apparently, the risk increases the more often people get angry, or if they already have heart problems or diabetes.
“Although the risk of experiencing an acute cardiovascular event with any single outburst of anger is relatively low, the risk can accumulate for people with frequent episodes of anger,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Elizabeth Mostofsky.
CBS News reports that, for people who were frequently angry – like five times per day – the outbursts would result in about 158 extra heart attacks per 10,000 among people with low cardiovascular risk, rising to around 657 extra heart attacks per 10,000 among those already at high risk for heart woes.
The study didn’t look specifically at why anger triggered heart problems, but anger increases heart rate, blood pressure and vascular resistance (the force that opposes blood flow). These changes in blood flow may lead to clots or trigger an inflammatory cascade that leads to heart problems.
Happily, previous research has shown that people on holidays or travelling long-term like grey nomads tend to be less stressed and less ‘angry’ … and presumably therefore less prone to temper-triggered heart problems.
What makes you angry when you’re on the Big Lap? Do you get angry less often on the open road than you did when you were ‘at home? Comment below.
They neatly sliced me open, stopped my heart, did a rebore and refit. I came back…..fit and even more ready to vent my spleen over the things you mention and more when it comes to human causing misery to human !
Watch out riff-raff, the “Grey Nomad Cardiac Cryer” is back with a vengeance !
I’ve got me pills though…..just in case I bust a blood vessel !
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Poppa Madison Queensland Australia
What makes me angry on the big lap? Being told by my doctors that I have to stop travellling until I can have surgery for an incurable medical condition.
DoI get less angry on the open road? I rarely get angry on the open road because I am, or was, enjoying and seeing this great wide land.
Been on the road full time for 11 years now.
I only get angry in cities or large towns it seems.
Just yesterday a young bloke abused me over the UHF for cutting him off at the end of a merging lane.
He came racing up the fast lane trying to be in front and cut others off in the line of traffic that was merging into a single lane.
But, because I was there first and his vehicle was behind mine which meant he had to give way to merging vehicles.
So I informed him in no uncertain terms about the correct use of what to do when merging.
Two other Semi drivers that sighted what had happened said, you tell’him mate, we see these idiots all the time, you were in the right.
We heard no more from that idiot….