People who have cheerful temperaments, who are relaxed and are happy with their lives, are one third less likely to suffer a coronary event, such as a heart attack or sudden cardiac death. Those with the highest risk of coronary events, have an even greater risk reduction of nearly 50%. This is what a new research study at Johns Hopkins concludes. A report on the research is published in the American Journal of Cardiology. Stress produces an adrenal response and the release of the stress hormone cortisol. We are hard wired to survive and the adrenal response historically helped us to do so. Unfortunately, the three aspects of the adrenal response, fight, flight and freeze, are not applicable in over 99% of modern day stressful situations. Many of us go through life as if we were being chased through the wilderness by a wild beast. This produces adrenal burnout and makes you ripe for sudden death. Previous research has shown that depressed and anxious people are more likely to have heart attacks and to die from them than those whose dispositions are sunnier. The study looked at data from GeneSTAR (Genetic Study of Atherosclerosis Risk), a 25-year Johns Hopkins project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to determine the roots of heart disease in people with a family history of coronary disease. They analyzed information gathered from 1,483 healthy siblings of people who had coronary events before the age of 60 and who were followed for five to 25 years. Siblings of people with early-onset coronary artery disease (CAD) are twice as likely of developing it themselves. The findings took into account other heart disease risk factors such as age, smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. To validate their result, the researchers then looked at similar information in a general population using data from 5,992 participants in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In this population, over an average 16-year follow-up, there were 1,226 coronary events (20.5 percent). They found that this group also benefitted from a cheerful temperament, which reduced their risk of a coronary event by 13 percent. The findings held whether the participants were white or African-American, men or women. Changing your mindset is not easy, but you can choose to be happy and more optimistic and make it a reality. If you do, the result will be a significant health benefit and the Grim Reaper might just have to wait a few more decades before knocking at your door.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 10:57:59 +0000
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