UMEM Educational Pearls

Category: Orthopedics

Title: Don't exercise angry

Keywords: MI, exercise (PubMed Search)

Posted: 10/15/2016 by Brian Corwell, MD (Emailed: 10/22/2016) (Updated: 10/22/2016)
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Many of us use exercise as a coping strategy when emotionally stressed or to blow off steam when angry. This may place your heart at risk.

A recent observational study in Circulation surveyed 12,000 first MI patients about potential triggers. The associations didn't depend on age, smoking status, hypertension, or baseline physical activity.

Anger or emotional upset in the hour before onset elevated odds of MI 2.44 fold

A similar 2.31 fold elevation was observed form heavy exertion

However, the combination of the two raised the odds to 3.05 fold (P<0.001 for interaction)

References

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/134/15/1059