Suppressed anger at the time of an unjust attack may become chronic resentment (intermittent rage or hatred) about which little is known and requires research. The design for future research should experimentally measure both suppressed anger-coping responses (after an unfair attack) and morbidity (eg, blood pressure, bronchitis, immune disorder, etc.) to predict prospectively to earlier mortality.

This study examined the association of blood glutathione level, a potential marker of physiological/functional aging, with a number of biomedical/psychological traits in a subgroup (N = 33) of a representative sample of community-based elderly. Higher glutathione levels were associated with fewer number of illnesses (p < 0.05), higher levels of self-rated health (p < 0.01), lower cholesterol (p < 0.05), lower body mass index, and lower blood pressures. Subjects with diagnoses of arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease (as assessed by physicians) had at least marginally significant lower glutathione levels than those who were disease free. Glutathione, together with age and a measure of suppressed anger, accounted for 39% of the variance of an index of morbidity. Glutathione, by itself, accounted for 24% of the variance. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of an association of higher glutathione levels with higher levels of physical health in a sample of community-based elderly. Further studies in large samples are needed to investigate glutathione as a potential overall health risk factor for morbidity among the elderly.

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This study examined prospectively (1971-1983) the relationship between anger-coping types, blood pressure, and all-cause mortality in a sample of men and women aged 30-69 (n = 696) of the Tecumseh Community Health Study. Subjects who indicated that they were likely to suppress their anger in response to two hypothetical anger-provoking situations had 1.7 times the mortality risk of those who expressed their anger (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03-3.05). Subjects who suppressed their anger when unjustifiably confronted by their spouse had twice the mortality risk of those who expressed their anger (95% CI = 1.13-3.38). For high vs. low suppressed anger towards a policeman, the mortality risk was 1.24 (95% CI = 0.72-2.14). These relationships were invariant across age, sex, and education groups, even when medical risk factors were adjusted for, i.e., smoking, relative weight, blood pressure, coronary heart disease status, forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), and chronic bronchitis. However, suppressed anger measures significantly interacted with elevated blood pressure to predict the highest mortality risk. These results suggest that persons with high mortality risk can be identified in part by how they cope with anger, and by the joint effect of anger-coping type (a behavioral trait) and elevated blood pressure (a biologic trait).

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