According to American Psychological association anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. However, when it gets out of control it can become destructive. “What happens is that when we are angry our body releases stress hormones like adrenaline, noradrenalin and cortisol because of which our heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature all go up, causing wear and tear on the heart and cardiovascular system. Frequent anger may speed up the process of atherosclerosis, in which fatty plaques build up in arteries leading to damaged arteries. Regular episodes of anger can actually severely compromise our health,” explains Dr. K P Srihari Das, Senior Consultant, NH Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, HSR Layout, Bangalore

The risks of being on a boil are plenty. Apparently according to new research your heart could be in line because of your temper. A March 2014 study done by Harvard School of Public Health researchers and published in The European Heart Journal has shown that outbursts of anger may trigger heart attacks and, strokes. The researchers after trawling data from nine studies and involving thousands of people identified a dangerous period of about two hours following an outburst when people are at heightened risk for a heart attack (risk increases five-fold) or stroke (more than three-fold) compared to when they are not angry. Their risk of abnormal heartbeat or ventricular arrhythmia also goes up. “While the researchers did not examine and specify the underlying cause for the link between anger and heart problems, we already know well enough that psychological stress can shoot the BP and increase heart rate, which in turn could lead to blood clots and trigger inflammatory responses - compromising heart’s health,” explains Dr. K P Srihari Das, Senior Consultant, NH Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, HSR Layout, Bangalore

But holding on to the anger doesn’t seem to be the answer either. “There is a strong relationship between pent-up anger and heart disease too. Pent up anger can produce physiological tensions which could lead to increases in blood pressure damaging the cardiovascular system,” states Dr. K P Srihari Das, Senior Consultant, NH Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, HSR Layout, Bangalore

So anger either ways – hidden in the heart or spilling out in frequent outbursts seems to be a problem – that needs to be reined in. “The important thing is that we need to find ways of coping with anger in a positive way,” Dr. K P Srihari Das adds