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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Anger and Hostility Speed Decline in Lung Power for
Older Men
Anger and stress in
senior men is in the spotlight
this week
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
 August 31, 2006 It has been a mixed bag of news
in the last week for older men prone to anger and stress. The last is
that anger and hostility cause senior men to lose lung power faster than
is expected in normal aging. Another big report this week said stress
also hastens the development of Alzheimer's disease. On the other hand,
new research says our assumptions were wrong about Type A men those
subject to chronic stress from too much drive. The Type Aers are not
more likely than other older men, the study says, to develop heart
problems.
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(See links to other reports on stress in sidebar.)
Previous studies have found that negative emotions
do cause problems with pulmonary function in people with respiratory
disease, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
according to background on this study.
The authors say, however, they found no published
research that has examined the prospective association of "hostility" with
decline in pulmonary function.
One recent study reported that hostility was
consistently associated with reduced pulmonary function using a
cross-sectional design in a sample of young adults. However, we know of
no published research that has examined the prospective association of
hostility with decline in pulmonary function.
Their hypothesis was that hostility contributes to
faster rates of decline in lung function among older adults.
The average age of the men in the lung study was
62, although the ages of the 670 men ranged from 45 to 86. All were
taking part in the long-term US Normative Aging Study. The study results
were published today in Thorax.
After an initial assessment in 1986, the men were
monitored for an average of eight years, during which their lung
function was measured on three separate occasions. Their levels of
hostility were measured in 1986, using a validated scoring system. The
average hostility score was around 18.5, but ranged from 7 to 37.
The mens lung function at the start of the study
varied according to their initial levels of hostility.
It was significantly poorer among those men deemed
to exhibit high levels of anger and hostility compared with those who
exhibited medium to low levels.
"It is interesting to note that, among more hostile
men, pulmonary function was worse at every examination over a 10 year
period than in less hostile men," the authors say.
Although the impact was lessened, the association
held true even after taking account of factors likely to influence the
findings, such as smoking and educational attainment.
Higher levels of hostility were also associated
with a faster rate of the natural decline in lung function that occurs
with aging.
Each point increase in hostility score was
associated with a loss of FEV1 the volume of air that can be forced out
of the lungs in one second, and a measure of lung power of 9 ml a year
compared with men whose hostility levels were lower.
The authors point out that hostility and anger have
been associated with cardiovascular disease, death, and asthma, and that
previous research has suggested that changes in mood can have short term
effects on the lungs.
Anger and hostility will alter neurological and
hormonal processes, which in turn may disturb immune system activity,
producing chronic inflammation, suggest the authors.
They note their findings are limited in that they
pertain to older white men and thus cannot be generalized to women,
non-white subjects, or younger populations.
Stress Well Known Health Problem
An accompanying editorial comments that the
physiological components of anger and stress overlap, and stress is well
known to affect the immune system.
Indeed it is hard to find a disease for which
emotion or stress plays absolutely no part in symptom severity,
frequency, or intensity of flare-ups, writes Dr Paul Lehrer of the
University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey , USA .
"Stress related factors are known to depress immune
function and increase susceptibility to or exacerbate a host of diseases
and disorders including asthma, hypertension, upper respiratory
infection, various skin diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable
bowel syndrome, vasovagal syncope and, more obviously, various
psychiatric disorders. Indeed, it is hard to find a disease for which
emotion or stress plays absolutely no part in symptom severity,
frequency, or intensity of flare-up," Lehrer says.
Chronic anger may permanently alter the normal body
responses to and physical and psychological stressors, he suggests, and
add to wear and tear.
But he cautions that associations do not
necessarily equate to cause. Personality, as well as physiology, can
change over time, and deterioration in health and physical function can
lead to negative emotion as well as vice versa, including for
respiratory diseases.
Click here to view the paper in full. (pdf)
Click here to view the editorial in full. (pdf)
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