Another interesting study:
Hostility tied to lower levels of antioxidants
Last Updated: 2008-01-01 13:00:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Hostility could increase people‘s risk of heart disease by
depleting their levels of certain heart-healthy antioxidants, new
research suggests.
Oxidative stress occurs when
production of free radicals, which are normal byproducts of metabolism,
outpaces the body‘s ability to neutralize them, resulting in tissue
damage. It has been associated with heart disease, cancer and other
illnesses. Antioxidant vitamins can help counteract oxidative stress,
while cigarette smoking and pollution, among other factors, can
increase it.
Hostility is associated with heart
disease risk, Dr. Tetsuya Ohira of the University of Minneapolis and
colleagues note. Given that hostile individuals are more likely to
smoke and drink, while poor diet and smoking can deplete antioxidants,
antioxidants could help explain the relationship, they suggest.
To investigate, they looked at 3,579
men and women 18 to 30 years old who were participating in the
so-called Cardiovascular Risk Development In Young Adults study. The
researchers measured levels of several different carotenoids, which are
pigments with powerful antioxidant properties, as well as tocopherols
(vitamin E).
People who had high levels of
hostility at the study‘s outset were more likely to have lower levels
of several types of carotenoids seven years later, the researchers
found, but hostility didn‘t predict levels of tocopherols or lycopene.
If hostility does reduce levels of
antioxidants, Ohira and colleagues say, lifestyle factors such as diet,
smoking and drinking probably play a key role.
The increased risk they observed was
"small, but significant," they add, so "it is not clear whether or not
the differences are importantly related to the risk of coronary heart
disease." Further research is needed to answer this question, they
conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, January 1, 2008.