Heart patients have been advised to refrain from harbouring negative thoughts and stay positive to fend off future heart problems and reduce the risks of heart attacks in future by as much as 50 per cent.
According to a joint research by British Heart Foundation and University College London researchers, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, a positive mental attitude and remaining cheerful and optimistic lowers the chances of premature death as they are more likely to heed to advice about lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking and eating more healthily, which results in better outcomes.
The study is based on survey of mental attitudes and health of 369 patients that went to hospital with unstable angina and heart attacks, over the period of 46 months.
The study found that 85 per cent of the optimistic smokers had given up entirely one year on heeding to doctors’ advice. Further the study even shows that optimistic patients are more likely to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables one year after their incident with as many as 40 per cent of optimistic patients eating the recommended five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Although the researchers believe that a more optimistic approach promoted recovery by making changes towards healthier lifestyles – by quitting smoking and eating more fruit and vegetables – they did not find that optimistic patients were more likely to be more physically active than pessimistic patients.
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation said that angina or heart attack can take a drastic emotional toll, which could lead to depression, further lowering the chances of a full recovery.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a leading London cardiologist concluded that mental health and stress play a crucial role, in addition to diet, in reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and death, as 80 percent of cardiovascular disease was lifestyle related.
In the UK, 2.3 million people are living with coronary heart disease, the major cause of heart attacks and unstable angina.
