Unpleasant Personality Raises Stroke Risk

While there is evidence linking antagonistic personalities to cardiovascular events, Angelina R. Sutin, from the US National Institute on Aging (Maryland, USA), and colleagues assessed the role of negative personality traits as intermediate markers of cardiovascular disease.   The researchers studied 5,614 residents of the Italian island of Sardinia, assessing personality traits and evaluating carotid artery intima-media thickness, a marker that is associated with increased risk of stroke. The team found that those men and women ranking in the lowest 10% of agreeableness had an odds ratio of 1.40for being in the top quartile of carotid intima-media thickness, after adjusting for confounding factors.  They also found that an antagonistic personality predicted increased thickening over approximately three years of follow-up. The researchers also observed that carotid intima-media thickness in women with disagreeable personalities was similar to the average in men, who normally have significantly thicker arterial walls. The team concludes that: “Antagonistic individuals, especially those who are manipulative and aggressive, have greater increases in arterial thickening, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.”