Link between hostility and poor lung health uncovered

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Longstanding hostility can impair lung function, according to new research.
Hostility is already known to have an adverse effect on heart health. Now researchers show it can also impact upon lung function. The report comes from the long-running US Normative Aging Study, involving 670 men aged between 45 and 86. Their levels of hostility were measured by questionnaire in 1986 and found to range between seven and 37 points. Then their lung function was monitored over eight years.

Men showing high levels of anger and hostility showed worse lung function than those with medium to low levels. Higher levels of hostility were also linked with a faster rate of age-related decline in lung function. Each point increase in hostility score was linked to a loss of FEV1 - the volume of air forced out of the lung in one second, which is a measure of lung power - of nine milliliters a year. Anger and hostility may impair lung function through altering neurological and hormonal processes, which could promote inflammation in the lung area. The findings suggest that maybe anger and stress management have a role to play in maintaining lung health.

Source
Thorax online first 30th August 2006

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