An eight-year study of 670 men aged 45 to 86 showed that anger and hostility can speed up the rate at which lung power declines with age.
Men with higher levels of long-standing anger at the study's beginning had significantly poorer lung function by the end.
The researchers rated anger levels with a scoring system. Lung power was tested three times over the course of the study.
Even after taking into account other factors, such as smoking, the hostility and anger affected lung function.
Anger, hostility and stress have previously been associated with heart disease, asthma and other illnesses. The emotions may change biological processes, disturbing the immune system and causing chronic inflammation.
Here's the latest study that shows just how much of an impact your emotions can have on your physical health. Your anger can clearly disturb your immune system.
Every feeling you have affects some part of your body. Negative emotions, like unresolved anger, are some of the most common causes of disease. Another confirmation of this is a study that describes how physical wounds can take much longer to heal when you find yourself in a marriage plagued by hostility and conflict, rather than one filled with pleasure and happiness.
Even the hyperconservative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) admits that as many as 90 percent of the visits to the doctor may come as the result of a stress-related illness. This potentially devastating effect negativity and hostility has on your health is why I strongly recommend addressing such emotions safely, deliberately and without drugs.
The implications are very clear:
If you can't find ways to accommodate to the stress in your life, you may never ultimately heal. There are a number of ways to address hostility and the related symptoms.
They include:
In the office I am particularly fond of energy psychology tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
EFT is a psychological acupressure technique based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles. Simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto certain meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem.
To try it for yourself, review my free EFT report. However, if you are not getting the results you would like, try consulting an EFT therapist. Gary Craig has compiled a list of EFT Practitioner Referrals from the United States and the world.
Many of these therapists even offer a free 15-minute phone session in which you can ask them questions to see if you connect.