Website URL: nytimes.com
Webpage URL: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/really-optimism-reduces-the-risk-of-heart-disease/
Title of Article: Really? Optimism Reduces the Risk of Heart Disease
Author's Name: Anahad O'Connor
Date of Publication: April 23, 2012
Date Viewed: May 6, 2012
The main focus of this article is about how being cheerful and optimistic make you less likely to get heart disease or have a stroke. The scientists's reasoning for this isn't exactly that it makes you any healthier, but it means your aren't as stressed out or in a bad mood. Signs of depression and other negative emotions have been linked to heart disease so by being positive, one can reduce these risks. A study last year linked people with success in career and other parts of their lives with a reduced risk of heart disease. Scientists aren't sure whether it's lack of unhappiness or whether it's actually being happy that reduces the risk of heart disease but they're researching it now.
This ties into this term because we are learning about the heart and the circulatory system. Obviously the heart is a very big part of the circulatory system and there are many things that can go wrong with it. We are learning about all the things that can go wrong with it such as heart murmurs or heart attacks. So, learning how to prevent it is very relevant. Also, heart disease is the leading cause of death for American's so learning how to prevent it is a big deal. This moves us one step closer to ending heart disease and saving millions of lives.
How does optimism prevent heart disease? As in, what exactly does it do that helps to prevent heart disease?
ReplyDeleteOptimism does not fully prevent heart diseasem, but rather by not being pessimistic you lower your risk of heart disease. Scientists have found the pessimistic people have higher amounts of stress which can lead to heart complications. Scientists are not exactly sure why this is but they are looking into it.
Deletehttp://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/optimistic-heart-patients-live-longer/
How many studies have there been that back this theory up? As in, is this a relatively new theory or have scientists known this for a while?
ReplyDeleteThere has been many studiese that back up this theory. I looked online and found over ten without looking too hard. It seems to be a credible theory. Harvard professors have done studies that link optimism to good heart health. Also, I found studies that were done over thirty years ago, so it has been around for a decent amount of time.
Deletehttp://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hphr/chronic-disease-prevention/happiness-stress-heart-disease/