It’s the Traffic Jam, Not Road Rage, That Damages the Heart

The stress of intense rage – for example, road rage – is known to increase adrenaline (epinephrine) release into the blood stream, and thereby raise the risk for cardiac damage. But there’s another driving hazard that can also increase the risk of a heart attack – getting stuck in heavy traffic. This was reported by Dr Annette Peters at the American Heart Association’s Conference on Cardiovascular Disease earlier this year.  

Researchers interviewed almost 1,500 cases of heart attack (MI, or myocardial infarction) in Augsburg, Germany. In particular, they asked about traffic exposure in the 4 days before the onset of symptoms; this included driving a car, using public transport, or bicycling.  Their average age was 60, and 25% were women.

Analysis showed that traffic exposure was 3.2-times as likely one hour before a heart attack as no traffic exposure during this time period. Driving a car was the most likely reason for exposure. And women (as well as elderly men) were 5 times as likely to be affected by this relationship as men.

Dr Peters’ scientific interests concern exhaust and air pollution caused by traffic, and it’s not surprising that she sees this as the likely cause of the association revealed in this study. However, she admits the stress of heavy traffic could be an additional factor. We should point out that the absolute risk of being exposed to traffic every day is very, very small, compared with other factors that raise the risk of coronary heart disease and subsequent heart attack.