OLDER couples should take care over the way they argue if they want to avoid heart attacks. If marital spats are hostile, wives have an increased chance of heart attack, while for men it is controlling behaviour in arguments that increases heart risk.
Psychologist Tim Smith and colleagues at the University of Utah encouraged 150 married couples aged around 60 to argue and rated the arguments for levels of hostility and controlling behaviour. Two days later, the couples had chest scans.
Women who are hostile are more likely to have coronary disease, Smith told a meeting of the American Psychosomatic…
