Having a short temper may be bad for the heart, according to results of a study. Researchers report that people who are quick to get angry are more than twice as likely as people with cooler heads to have a heart attack or to die suddenly from heart disease.

But the link between anger and heart disease was only present in people with normal blood pressure. The reason anger does not appear to have the same effect on people with high blood pressure is unclear, but it may have something to do with the fact that high blood pressure already raises the risk of heart disease in the first place. Another possible explanation is that the use of medications to treat high blood pressure, which might have lowered the risk of heart disease, may have balanced out any effects of anger.

Persons who experience frequent and intense anger may benefit by learning to identify events that trigger their anger and ways to better cope with their response to those situations. Among people with normal blood pressure, being hotheaded nearly tripled the risk of heart disease. Even after the investigators took into account factors that might have affected heart risk -- such as smoking, being overweight or having high cholesterol -- the angriest participants were 2.7 times more likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease during the study than people who reported low levels of anger.

Circulation May 2, 2000;101