- People who have "antagonistic hostility"
- the sort that is expressed angrily, either verbally or physically - are
likely to have high levels of cholesterol, new research shows.
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- Hostility and high levels of cholesterol
have previously been associated, but Edward C. Suarez, PhD, and colleagues
at Duke University Medical Center have now charted the differences among
types of hostility and the risk of cardiovascular disease they pose.
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- Cynics and neurotics - hostile types
who feel angry but seldom take it out on others - are less at risk for
high cholesterol than their "up-front-and-in-your face" counterparts,
the research team reports in a current issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine
(Vol. 20, No. 2).
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- "The findings suggest that only
certain aspects of hostility, characterized by an outward expression of
anger in a verbal or physical manner and an antagonistic interpersonal
style, are potentially coronary prone," they write.
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- Elevated blood lipids, such as cholesterol
and triglycerides, link such behavior to health problems.
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- The scientists evaluated 77 healthy women,
ages 18 to 26, about 94 percent of them white. (Hispanics comprised 4 percent,
and Asian-Americans, 1 percent.) Participants were limited to those who
posted high or low scores on a 50-item, true-or-false, hostility survey
shown to be associated with increased coronary risk in men and women.
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- Questionnaires yielded details about
types of hostility by assessing frequency of expressed and suppressed anger,
levels of resentment and suspicion, personality traits, and factors.
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- Hostile women had significantly greater
amounts of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol ("bad"
cholesterol), but the correlation varied by type of hostility. Antagonistic
hostility was the strongest predictor of cardiovascular risk factors, while
neurotic hostility was not at all associated with them. In other words,
the expression of anger mattered more than the experience of it.
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- The researchers note that hostile people
in general often behave in ways that contribute to elevated lipids. Among
other factors, many smoke (although this study excluded smokers) and ingest
excess calories.
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- The Duke University study focused on
the nature of the hostility associated with elevated lipids, not on what
links the two. It also was limited to healthy young women. The scientists
suspect that the antagonistic hostility pattern also holds true for older
women.
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- The study was supported by a grant from
the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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- Editor's Note: The original news release
can be found at <http://www.cfah.org/website2/newsrelease/981027a.htmhttp://www.cfah.org/websit
e2/newsrelease/981027a.htm
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