Research update: CrossCurrents Summer 2003

CrossCurrents

Expressing anger may be good for your heart

Outward expression of anger, in moderation, may protect men against heart disease. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, reached this conclusion after a two-year study of 23,522 male health professionals aged 50 to 85. They found that men with moderate levels of anger expression almost halved their risk of non-fatal heart attack and had less than half the risk of stroke when compared with men who rarely expressed their anger. Anger expression was measured in terms of the frequency with which men responded to feelings of anger by doing things like slamming doors, hurling insults or striking out. Men in this study had high socioeconomic status and relatively low levels of anger expression to begin with. The researchers conclude that these results may reflect better coping styles in dealing with anger among men with higher status, who may be more likely to have the power and status to freely express their anger.

Psychosomatic Medicine, January/February 2003, v. 65: 100-110. Patricia Mona Eng et al, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

Swedish study finds single-parent children at risk

New research from Sweden has added more fuel to the debate over single- parent families. The study has found that children of such families have an increased risk of mental illness, alcohol dependency and other substance use problems and suicide. The study conducted by Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare compared national data on 65,000 children with one parent and 920,000 children with two parents during the 1990s. Children of single parents were twice as likely to suffer from mental illness, alcohol-related disease or to attempt suicide. Girls and boys raised by single parents were, respectively, two and three times more likely to have other substance use issues. The risk of death was 50 per cent greater among boys raised by single parents, but did not differ for girls. The authors conclude that much of the difference can be explained by the poorer socio-economic status of single-parent families, especially the lack of household resources. Single parents were also more likely to suffer from mental illness or alcohol dependency. The researchers recommend preventive efforts aimed at children's risk behaviours, as well as efforts to improve the circumstances of single-parent families.

The Lancet, January 25, 2003, v. 361: 289-295. Gunilla Ringbäck Weitaft et al, Centre for Epidemiology, Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, Stockholm, Sweden.

Link between neuroleptic medications and smoking identified

Scientists at the University of Toronto have uncovered a potential link between neuroleptic medications commonly used to treat schizophrenia and high rates of smoking among people with schizophrenia. The researchers began by injecting nicotine directly into the ventral tegmental area of the brains of laboratory rats, and found that these rats showed an aversion to nicotine at low doses, but this was reversed at higher doses when the rats began to seek out nicotine. When the rats were subsequently treated with neuroleptic drugs that blocked dopamine receptors, the aversive effects of nicotine were reduced, making the rats even more sensitive to nicotine's rewarding properties. The researchers conclude that this blockade of dopamine receptors appears to be the mechanism through which traditional antipsychotic medications (which are neuroleptics) make their users more vulnerable to nicotine dependency. Roughly 90 per cent of people with schizophrenia smoke, compared with 25 to 30 per cent of the general population, representing a serious health risk.

Molecular Psychiatry, February 14, 2003, v. 8 (1): 50-59. S.R. Laviolette and D. van der Kooy, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.

Mark de la Hey

 

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