19 Apr A happy heart is a long life
If happiness wasn't a desirable goal in and of itself then how about contemplating that happiness and optimism may well protect your heart and help you live longer!
Happiness = longevity … how cool is that!
Some exciting new research was recently summed up here…
Harvard researchers suggest optimism, happiness and other positive emotions may help protect heart health and lower the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events. It also appears that these psychological well-being factors slow the progress of cardiovascular disease.
The findings are the result of the first and largest systematic review of its kind, and are reported in the 16 April online issue of Psychological Bulletin, by lead author Julia Boehm, a research fellow, and senior author Laura Kubzansky, an associate professor, in the department of society, human development, and health, at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston, Massachusetts.
According to the American Heart Association, one person dies from cardiovascular disease every 39 seconds in the United States.
The authors explain that while numerous studies have shown negative psychological states such as anger, anxiety, hostility and depression may be bad for heart health, we know much less about how positive states are related to cardiovascular disease (CVD).
In a statement, Boehm tells the press that absence of negative states is not the same as presence of positive ones, and their findings suggest:
"… factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with reduced risk of CVD regardless of such factors as a person's age, socioeconomic status, smoking status, or body weight."
"For example, the most optimistic individuals had an approximately 50% reduced risk of experiencing an initial cardiovascular event compared to their less optimistic peers," she adds.
For their review, Boehm and Kubzansky examined the results of more than 200 studies published in two major scientific databases…
…read more, in fact read the full and original article HERE