Trajectory of psychological risk and incident hypertension in middle-aged women.
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The aim of the study was to test the hypotheses that the trajectory of psychological risk (ie, persistent or increasing measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, anger, and low social support over time) increases the risk for the development of hypertension and that blood pressure levels fluctuate with psychological changes in women. Initially, healthy normotensive middle-aged women (n=541; 90.6% white, 8.9% African American) were followed across an average of 9.2 years of follow-up. Psychological characteristics were assessed repeatedly via standardized questionnaires, and Cox proportional hazards and random regression models were used to analyze their impact, adjusting for hypertension risk factors (age, race, years of education, parental history of hypertension, baseline blood pressure, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking). Seventy-five women became hypertensive during the follow-up period. Baseline levels of depression, anxiety, anger, and social support did not predict subsequent hypertension. A high level of anxiety throughout the follow-up, an increase in the level of feelings of anger, and a decrease in the level of social support over the follow-up were significant predictors of hypertension incidence (all P<0.05), although covariate adjustment reduced some of the significance levels to nonsignificance. In women, increases in depressive symptoms were significantly associated (P=0.003) with concurrent increases in the level of systolic blood pressure, especially among hypertensive patients (P=0.0001). Increasing levels of anger, decreasing levels of social support, and high anxiety increase the likelihood of women's development of hypertension in midlife. These results emphasize the importance of evaluating the trajectory of psychological risk during the period of evolving hypertension. (+info)
Effects of rapid weight loss on mood and performance among amateur boxers.
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AIMS: To examine the effects of rapid weight loss on mood and performance among amateur boxers. METHODS: Participants were 16 experienced amateur boxers. In stage 1, structured interviews were used to assess the type of strategies that boxers used to reduce weight and the value of performing at their desired weight in terms of performance. In stage 2, boxers completed a 4 x 2 minute (1 minute recovery) circuit training session. Boxers completed the circuit training session on three different occasions with a week between each. The first test was used to familiarise the boxers with the circuit training task; the second and third tasks were at their training weight and championship weight, respectively. Participants were given one week to reduce their body weight to their championship weight using their preferred weight making strategies; boxers reduced their body weight by an average of 5.16% of body weight. RESULTS: Boxers typically lost weight by restricting fluid and food intake in the week leading to competition. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance results indicated that rapid weight loss among boxers was associated with poor performance, increased anger, fatigue, and tension, and reduced vigour. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies used to make weight by boxers are associated with poor performance and a negative mood profile. (+info)
The association between trait anger and incident stroke risk: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study examined the relation between trait anger and incident stroke risk among participants without a history of stroke at the first follow-up examination of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. METHODS: The study sample included 13 851 black and white men and women, aged 48 to 67 years, who completed the Spielberger Trait Anger Scale. Median follow-up time was 77.3 months. RESULTS: In the full cohort, Cox proportional hazards regression analyses showed a modest increase in the risk for stroke among individuals with high trait anger, though the association did not remain statistically significant after multivariate adjustment. Participants < or =60 years of age who reported having high trait anger had a 2.82 (95% CI, 1.65 to 4.80) times greater risk for hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes combined (any) and a 2.93 (95% CI, 1.64 to 5.22) times greater risk for ischemic strokes alone than their counterparts who reported having low trait anger (hazard rate ratios adjusted for sex and race/ethnicity). Similarly, among participants with HDL cholesterol levels >47, the risk for any stroke was 2.86 (95% CI, 1.56 to 5.25) times greater for those who reported having high trait anger, whereas the risk for ischemic strokes alone was 2.98 (95% CI, 1.58 to 5.61) times greater (hazard rate ratios adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity). These associations remained strong and statistically significant after further adjustment for several established biological and sociodemographic risk factors for stroke and were absent among older participants and those with lower HDL cholesterol values. CONCLUSIONS: Trait anger was associated with an increased risk for incident stroke in the ARIC study among younger participants and those with higher HDL cholesterol levels. (+info)
Effects of laughing and weeping on mood and heart rate variability.
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We investigated the effects of laughing and weeping induced by watching comedy and tragedy videos on mood and autonomic nervous function. Ten healthy female subjects volunteered for the experiment. Chest electrocardiogram and respiration curve were recorded before, after, and during watching a comedy or a tragedy video. We also asked them to fill out profiles of mood states (POMS) to evaluate their mood states while watching videos. Autonomic nervous function was estimated by spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). All subjects more or less laughed and wept while watching comedy and tragedy videos, respectively. Anger-hostility score of the POMS decreased and vigor score increased significantly after watching comedy videos, while depression-dejection score increased significantly after watching tragedy ones. Although both contents tended to increase a low to high frequency component ratio (LF/HF ratio) of HRV, the time course of responses was different. The LF/HF ratio which reflects cardiac sympathovagal balance increased immediately after they started watching comedy videos, and returned to the basal level right after they stopped watching, whereas the LF/HF ratio increased gradually to a lesser extent while watching tragedy videos. In contrast, the high-frequency component which reflects cardiac parasympathetic nerve activity gradually decreased while watching both videos but did not return to the basal level after watching tragedy ones. These results suggest that laughing has strong but transient effects on the autonomic nervous system, while weeping or feeling sad has moderate but sustained effects on it. (+info)
Emotional and physical precipitants of ventricular arrhythmia.
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BACKGROUND: Observational studies have suggested that psychological stress increases the incidence of sudden cardiac death. Whether emotional or physical stressors can trigger spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias in patients at risk has not been systematically evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) were given diaries to record levels of defined mood states and physical activity, using a 5-point intensity scale, during 2 periods preceding spontaneously occurring ICD shocks (0 to 15 minutes and 15 minutes to 2 hours) and during control periods 1 week later. ICD-stored electrograms confirmed the rhythm at the time of shock. A total of 107 confirmed ventricular arrhythmias requiring shock were reported by 42 patients (33 men; mean age, 65 years; 78% had coronary artery disease) between August 1996 and September 1999. In the 15 minutes preceding shock, an anger level > or =3 preceded 15% of events compared with 3% of control periods (P<0.04; odds ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence intervals, 1.04 to 3.16) Other mood states (anxiety, worry, sadness, happiness, challenge, feeling in control, or interest) did not differ. Patients were more physically active preceding shock than in control periods. Anger and physical activity were independently associated with the preshock period. CONCLUSIONS: Anger and physical activity can trigger ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ICDs. Future investigations of therapies aimed at blocking a response to these stressors may decrease ventricular arrhythmias and shocks in these patients. (+info)
Visceral sensation and emotion: a study using hypnosis.
(22/476)
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We have previously shown that hypnosis can be used to study the effect of different emotions on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract. These studies demonstrated that both anger and excitement increased colonic motility while happiness led to a reduction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hypnotically induced emotion on the visceral sensitivity of the gut. METHODS: Sensory responses to balloon distension of the rectum and compliance were assessed in 20 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (aged 17-64 years; 17 female) diagnosed by the Rome I criteria. Patients were studied on four separate occasions in random order either awake (control) or in hypnosis, during which anger, happiness, or relaxation (neutral emotion) were induced. RESULTS: Hypnotic relaxation increased the distension volume required to induce discomfort (p=0.05) while anger reduced this threshold compared with relaxation (p<0.05), happiness (p<0.01), and awake conditions (p<0.001). Happiness did not further alter sensitivity from that observed during relaxation. There were no associated changes in rectal compliance or wall tension. CONCLUSIONS: Further to our previous observations on motility, this study shows that emotion can also affect an IBS patient's perception of rectal distension and demonstrates the critical role of the mind in modulating gastrointestinal physiology. These results emphasise how awareness of the emotional state of the patient is important when either measuring visceral sensitivity or treating IBS. (+info)
Association of anger-related traits with SNPs in the TPH gene.
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Since both aggression-related traits and serotonergic activity are partially heritable and correlate inversely, variations in genes of the serotonergic system might then, to some extent, account for variations in aggression-related behavior. Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) is the rate limiting biosynthetic enzyme in the serotonin pathway and regulates levels of serotonin. Recently, a genetic variation in TPH has been associated with aggression and anger-related traits in volunteers. We investigated a sample of community-based healthy volunteers (n = 154) and suicide attempters (n = 86), a clinical population with a high risk for elevated impulsive aggression and related traits. The subjects were genotyped for a A218C and a A779C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the TPH gene. All subjects were administered standard psychiatric interviews as well as self-report questionnaires for aggression, irritability and anger-related traits. For anger-related traits, a multivariate effect of the tryptophan hydroxylase genotype and an interaction effect for genotype and diagnosis was observed in healthy volunteers and suicide attempters after controlling for age and educational level. U-carriers in both groups showed higher scores for State Anger, Trait Anger and Angry Temperament. These findings support the hypothesis that the A218C and the A779C SNP in the TPH gene may be associated with anger-related traits in German samples. (+info)
Anxiety, depression and anger suppression in infertile couples: a controlled study.
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BACKGROUND: Although several authors have suggested an important pathogenic role for psychosocial factors in 'functional' infertility, the extent to which depression, anxiety and expressed emotional patterns correlate to infertility is not yet clear. METHODS: This study included 156 infertile couples (recruited at intake) and 80 fertile couples, whose personal characteristics were recorded. They were examined using scales for the evaluation of the degree of psychopathology [Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)], and anger expression [State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI)]. The 156 infertile couples were then subdivided into groups based on the cause of infertility ('organic', 'functional' or 'undetermined'). The psychometric evaluation was double-blind with respect to the causes of infertility. RESULTS: Differences emerged in the degree of psychopathology between 'organic' and 'functional' infertile subjects and fertile controls. In women, logistic regression identified three variables able to predict the diagnosis subtype; these variables are HAM-A, HAM-D, and tendency toward anger suppression. In men, anger did not emerge as a predictor for diagnosis, whereas HAM-A and HAM-D did. CONCLUSIONS: The 'functional' infertile subjects of this sample showed particular psychopathological and psychological features, independent from the stress reaction following the identification of the cause of infertility. (+info)