Aggressive people run higher heart risk--study

People who score high on aggressive personality traits have thicker neck carotid arteries, a risk factor for heart attack and stroke, compared to people who are more agreeable and easygoing, researchers claim.

Details of the study
For the study, the researchers from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Baltimore, a division of the National Institutes of Health enrolled 5,614 residents, including 58 percent women, hailing from Sardinia, an Italian Mediterranean island.

Participants aged between 14 and 94 years.

They were required to fill in a standard personality questionnaire, which included six facets of agreeableness, straightforwardness, trust, selflessness, obedience, reticence and tender mindedness.

The participants could either self-rate their behavior or get it rated from a trained local psychologist.

Participants also underwent a physical screening, wherein, the researchers gauged the thickness of the carotid artery and arterial wall thickness at five points using an ultrasound imaging technique.

Details regarding other major cardiovascular disease risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol triglyceride levels, fasting blood sugar levels, and diabetes were also collected.

Findings of the study
People who scored higher on the aggression scale were more likely to suffer from thickening of the neck arteries than those who were easy-going and accommodating, the research found.

In general, men had more thickening of the artery walls compared to their female counterparts.

"People who tend to be competitive and more willing to fight for their own self interest have thicker arterial walls, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease," study’s lead researcher Angelina Sutin, said.

Ten percent of the most antagonistic participants ran a 40 percent higher risk for thicker arteries, researchers said.

In general, men had more thickening of the artery walls compared to their female counterparts.

But "women who scored high on antagonism-related traits tended to close the gap, developing arterial thickness similar to antagonistic men. Women with agreeable traits had much thinner arterial walls than men with agreeable traits, antagonism had a much stronger association with arterial thickness in women," Sutin added.

"People should learn to control their anger and learn ways to express anger in more socially acceptable ways," Sutin advised.

The findings of the study are published in 'Hypertension'a Journal of the 'American Heart Association.'