The Guardian has a story up about a study published by the American Heart Association that found people who exercise while angry face a three-fold risk of suffering a heart attack within the hour, compared to their chances if they were, you know, happy and not exerting themselves.
Basically, both anger and extreme exertion double your chances of having a heart attack within the hour, according to the study. Combining the two exacerbates things.
From the Guardian:
The study’s lead author, Dr. Andrew Smyth, from the population health research institute at McMaster University in Canada, said extreme emotional and physical triggers are thought to have similar effects on the body.
He added: “Both can raise blood pressure and heart rate, changing the flow of blood through blood vessels and reducing blood supply to the heart. This is particularly important in blood vessels already narrowed by plaque, which could block the flow of blood leading to a heart attack.
Keep in mind that most of us face very, very small odds of having a heart attack in the next hour. A doubling or tripling of those odds still doesn’t amount to much. And there’s no question that regular exercise helps the heart. So keep riding. A lot.
But if you have a family history of heart disease, maybe don’t take on a master’s crit right after trying to book a service appointment with Comcast.
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