Just Can't Wait? High Blood
Pressure May Be Result
Excerpt By Martha Kerr, Reuter's Health

CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - If you are impatient or often feel pressed for time, there is a good chance you will develop high blood pressure--and at a relatively young age. That finding is from the first study to look at a link between hypertension and a "type A" behavior trait called time urgency/impatience, researchers reported here at the American Heart Association meeting.

Dr. LiJing L. Yan of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues looked at 13 years of data from the larger CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) study.

A sample of approximately 3,100 people between the ages of 18 and 30 who enrolled in the study in 1985 were asked four questions: Do you eat quickly? Do you often get upset if you have to wait? Do you often feel pressured? Do you often feel pressured at the end of the day?

Those who were the most likely to say those questions were true were two to three times more likely to develop high blood pressure than those in the calmest group. And Yan pointed out that the group is only between the ages of 33 and 45 now, so these people are developing hypertension at a young age.

Many factors can contribute to high blood pressure, including diet, exercise, smoking and other lifestyle factors.

In the study, about 6% of participants gave a positive response to all the questions. Those who felt a greater sense of impatience or urgency were more likely to be white, female and have more education, although those with high scores in general tended to smoke more, consume more alcohol and get less exercise.

However, the investigators found that white women still had a lower incidence of high blood pressure than other study participants.

Yan said that was most likely due to factors not related to personality traits.

"Lifestyle factors play a role. White women tend to pay more attention to their diet, they smoke less, in general have a higher socioeconomic status--and they may be able to modify their behavior better than the other groups," Yan commented.

Black men and women were more likely than other participants to develop high blood pressure during the study, but those who felt more urgency/impatience were more likely than their laid-back counterparts to develop high blood pressure.

Yan told Reuters Health that her team is planning to look at other risk factors for heart disease in this population--for instance, cholesterol levels and obesity. The investigators want to look at a person's sense of urgency and dietary habits, "but that depends on time and funding."

It is possible that those who feel constantly pressed for time are less likely to eat healthy foods, which could partly explain the link.

However, if the findings of her study are confirmed and personality traits are indeed linked with hypertension, Yan said it "indicates the health risks of a constant sense of time urgency/impatience and type A behavioral patterns."

Type A behavior and health consequences have been a matter of dispute for years, she acknowledged. In addition to urgency/impatience, type A personality traits include competitiveness, hostility, tenseness and aggressiveness.

Reference Source 89

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