Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7950

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Publication type: news

Daily Mail.
Being cynical is bad for your heart
Daily Mail 2007 Jan 22
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=430657&in_page_id=1774

Full text:

You may not be inclined to believe it – but doctors claim that being cynical is bad for your heart.

Scientists have found that those who have a natural scepticism about life have chemicals in their blood which cause inflammation.

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These in turn can raise their risk of developing high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

The new research adds to mounting evidence of how our behaviour and emotions can directly affect our health.

Previous studies have shown that stress is as likely to cause a heart attack as being overweight, smoking and having high cholesterol.

Researchers said the release of stress hormones causes inflammation which then can promote heart disease.

Now a new study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, has found that “cynical distrust” can also raise the risk of heart problems.

Nalini Ranjit of the University of Michigan, and colleagues used data on almost 7,000 men and women aged between 45 and 84 who had each completed a questionnaire on their social background, depression and stress.

Two years later they completed questionnaires which measured how cynical their outlook was in general.

Blood samples were taken from all to look for three different chemicals – IL-6, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen – which indicate inflammation.

Inflammation is known to play a key role in the development of atherosclerosis, where fatty material collects in the arteries and can harden and eventually block blood flow.

This can cause chest pain and if parts of the material break off it can trigger heart attacks and strokes.

The study team found that people who were stressed had two of the chemicals in the blood and those with depression had one sort. However all three chemicals were found in people classed as having an outlook of “cynical distrust.”

“The strongest and most consistent associations were observed for cynical distrust, which was positively associated with all three inflammatory markers,’ said Dr Ranjit.

Further analysis showed that the chemicals appeared to be closely tied in with factors such as body weight, social background and diabetes.

They concluded that so-called “psychosocial factors” such as stress and cynicism may increase the chance of people taking up habits such as smoking which can raise risk of inflammation.

Such emotions might also contribute to obesity and metabolic problems, which in turn can raise the risk of heart disease.

The researchers called for more research to confirm their findings and reveal more about how such factors may contribute to heart problems.

Last year scientists warned that getting angry can make your lungs age more quickly.

The study in the British Medical Journal found experiencing high levels of hostility can cause damage to the lungs, reducing their capacity.

The researchers suggested that anger and hostility may alter neurological and hormonal processes which then can disturb the immune system and lead to chronic inflammation.

Vicky Styman, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “There is insufficient evidence to say that stress, depression or other emotions are significant risk factors for heart disease, although they are often associated with it.

“One difficulty is that emotions are subjective. Some people thrive on stress while others prefer a slower pace, and it is often how people deal with stress that can increase their risk of heart disease rather than the stress itself. “It is particularly difficult to define if someone is cynical and measure what impact this has on their likelihood to develop disease.

“As the authors of this study acknowledge, psychological factors such as stress can often lead to unhealthy behaviours, including smoking, eating an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity – all of which are established risk factors for heart disease.”