Examination of the AHA!-Illness relation in male and female university students from Australia, India, and the United States

Associations between psychological traits and endothelial function in postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to determine whether psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) are associated with impairments in endothelial function and to determine whether use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can moderate observed associations among women without prior CVD.

METHODS

Flow-mediated dilation was assessed by brachial ultrasound after reactive hyperemia in 193 postmenopausal women enrolled in the prospective Healthy Women Study. Measures of psychosocial characteristics had been completed at study entry, when the women were premenopausal (mean = 13.6 years earlier), and at a separate postmenopausal follow-up exam near the time of the ultrasound (mean = 1.5 years earlier).

RESULTS

Factor analyses of the psychosocial characteristics yielded two factors: Type A/anger and anxiety/depression. Anxiety/depression scores at the study entry and follow-up exams and Type A/anger scores at the study entry exam were associated with less vasodilation (p values < 0.05). Type A/anger scores at the follow-up exam were associated with less vasodilation among women not using HRT (p <.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Psychosocial risk factors for CVD are associated with impaired brachial artery dilation among postmenopausal women. HRT use may mask some associations between psychosocial risk factors and endothelial dysfunction among postmenopausal women.

Serum lipids and their relationships with hostility and angry affect and behaviors in men

Research into the relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and coronary heart disease suggests that the anger-hostility-aggression (AHA!) syndrome is directly related to total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins. The present study involved an investigation of the specific components of the AHA! syndrome related to blood lipid levels in 98 healthy men. The disposition to experience and express anger when frustrated, criticized, or treated unfairly (angry reaction, a component of trait anger) was related to total serum cholesterol and to low-density lipoprotein levels. Age and diet also predicted levels of these lipids, but each was unrelated to angry reaction. These results suggest that in healthy men, the experience of strong angry affect in reaction to perceived rejection, criticism, or unfair treatment may be health-toxic because of its relationship to elevated unfavorable serum lipids.