Lung power normally declines as a person ages but being angry and hostile can speed up the process, researchers said on Thursday.
In a study of 670 men ranging in age from 45 to 86, they found that males who had higher levels of long-standing anger at the start of the eight-year project had significantly poorer lung function at the end of it.
"This study is one of the first to show prospectively that hostility is associated with poorer pulmonary function and more rapid rates of decline among older men," said Dr Rosalind Wright, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, in a report online in the journal Thorax.
The scientists used a scoring system to measures the levels of anger of each of the men and they tested their lung power three times during the study.
Even after taking account of other factors such as smoking that can also have an impact on lung power, hostility and anger had a negative effect.
Anger, hostility and stress have also been associated with heart disease, asthma and other ailments. Wright and her team suggested that the negative emotions could change biological process and may disturb the immune system.
"Stress-related factors are known to depress the immune function and increase susceptibility to or exacerbate a host of diseases and disorders," said Dr Paul Lehrer, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
He added that the researchers established a link between chronic anger and age-related deterioration in lung function.
New Delhi, November 4 -- The relentless rampage of the current H1N1 monster shows no sign of abating with two more succumbing to the lethal virus Tuesday, taking the total number of fatalities in the nation to 477.
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