Some heart attack risk factors are common knowledge. The average person knows, for example, that obesity, diabetes and hypertension can lead to an increased risk. And behaviors like smoking and a sedentary lifestyle are well-known risk factors as well. But a third group of unusual, little known factors could put your heart at risk.
Put your knowledge to the test — and protect yourself — by learning these surprising triggers:
1. Sudden, intense outbursts of anger
A recent study of 313 heart attack patients published by scientists in Sydney, Australia found that a heart attack was 8.5 times more likely to happen two hours after an intense bout of anger than after an average two hour period. Researchers Dr. Thomas Buckley of Sydney Nursing School and Prof. Geoffrey Tofler of the University of Sydney defined intense anger as a five or higher on a seven-point scale. Respondents who described their angry episode as a five or higher agreed that they felt, “furious,” “enraged” or “out of control” about two hours before their heart attack. Their fists may have been clenched, they may have been throwing objects and they may have been hurting themselves or others. As for what they were enraged about, the researchers noted that most participants (42 percent) said their anger stemmed from an argument, most commonly with a family member. Anger from work or driving tied for 14 percent.
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Speaking of eating too much, even sitting down to a big meal can be fraught with peril if you’re at risk for a cardiac event. A US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researcher found in 2000 that people at risk of heart disease were four times more likely to have a heart attack two hours after a big meal. The study asked 1,986 patients about their meals in the days leading up to their heart attack. Of those, 158 had eaten an “unusually heavy meal” within 26 hours, and 25 of them had eaten a big meal two hours before their attack.
Heavy meals could be acting on the body in a number of ways to trigger a heart attack. The simple act of eating food increases heart rate and blood pressure, according to Science Daily. Other theories implicate fatty acids from food entering the bloodstream, or rising insulin rates that could constrict coronary arteries.
Perhaps the most notorious and high-profile cases of heart attack after a heavy meal have occurred at the Las Vegas-based Heart Attack Grill, a restaurant famous for serving meals like the 10,000-calorie “Quadruple Bypass Burger.” A handful of people have suffered an attack mid-meal or after a meal at the restaurant, including two spokesmen (one official, one unofficial) for the business.
