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NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT HIGH LEVELS OF HOSTILITY ARE LINKED TO RISK FOR ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN WOMEN | |
| Contact: Susan Everson-Rose, MPH, PhD Phone: 312-563-2241 Email: Susan_A_Everson@rush.edu Embargoed until: March 3, 2004 |
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Vancouver, BC, Canada - Middle-aged women who report high levels of hostility have greater atherosclerosis in their arteries compared to women who are not hostile, which could increase their risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. These findings are from a new study, reported for the first time at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, held March 2-5 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Prior research has shown that persons who are hostile - that is, those who have a distrustful and cynical attitude toward others, are more likely to have high blood pressure and coronary heart disease, but most of this research was conducted with men or only with Caucasians. The new study included African-American and Caucasian women from the Chicago and Pittsburgh sites of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation or SWAN. SWAN is an ongoing study assessing the influence of menopause on risk for cardiovascular disease as well as other health outcomes in an ethnically diverse sample of women. In this study, 553 women completed a questionnaire to measure the level of hostility in their personalities, were assessed for standard risk factors for heart disease, including blood pressure, cholesterol levels, weight, and physical activity, and had a non-invasive ultrasound of the arteries in their neck to determine the extent of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a build-up of fat and cholesterol in the arteries, which causes the arteries to narrow and can lead to strokes and heart attacks. The most hostile women had higher overall levels of atherosclerotic thickening in their arteries, compared to the low hostile women, above and beyond the effects of the standard heart disease risk factors. The association between hostility scores and atherosclerosis was the same for African-American and Caucasian women. | |
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Psychosomatic Medicine is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, published bimonthly. For information about the journal, contact Vicki White, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production,
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