Researchers of a new study have found that patients with heart diseases are more likely to live longer if they display a positive attitude towards their illness.
Heart diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States The Center of Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 80 million Americans have one or more type of heart disease. More people die of heart disease than of AIDS and all cancers combined. In a related new study, researchers found that heart disease patients with positive attitudes are more likely to exercise and live longer.
At the start of the study, researchers asked 600 ischemic heart disease patients in a Denmark hospital to fill up a questionnaire to assess their moods. Five years later, researchers did a follow up and found that positive patients exercised more and had a 42 percent less chance of dying. Death rate among such patients was less than 10 percent. Being positive also cut the risk of being hospitalized due to any heart-related problems. Researchers also noted that 50 deaths occurred among patients that were less positive.
Ischemic heart disease is a condition caused due to the narrowing of arteries due to which the heart doesn't receive enough blood and oxygen. Researchers noted that exercising is the key to live longer. They found that there wasn't much difference in the survival rates of both positive and negative attitude patients if they all exercised. However, mood and exercise do affect each other with regards to survival rates of heart disease patients.
"We should focus not only on increasing positive attitude in cardiac rehabilitation, but also make sure that patients perform exercise on a regular basis, as exercise is associated with both increased levels of optimism and better health," said Susanne S. Pedersen, Ph.D. in a press release.
Findings of the study were published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
