19 February 2010
Don't worry, be happy
New Canadian research suggests that being happy is linked to a slightly lower risk of coronary heart disease.
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Dr Annabel Bentley, assistant medical director, Bupa |
Being a happy person may be linked to a slightly lower risk of heart disease, but this research does not tell us how or why. 
A study carried out in Nova Scotia, Canada, followed more than 1700 men and women over 10 years to assess whether or not being happy protected them from heart disease.
At the beginning of the study, all the men and women were asked to complete a survey and interview, and were scored as either having a 'positive affect' or 'negative affect'. A 'positive affect' was defined as feeling pleasurable emotions, such as joy, happiness, excitement and contentment. A 'negative affect' was defined as having feelings of hostility, anger and anxiousness.
Other measurements such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar were also taken to check for risk of coronary heart disease. The researchers only included people in the study if they had not had heart problems in the previous five years.
After 10 years, 145 people out of the 1700 studied had some form of coronary heart disease. From the results, the researchers concluded that those with a higher 'positive affect' score were slightly less likely to have had a heart attack.
The researchers suggest, that feeling happy may improve people's sleeping patterns and reduce the amount people smoke, thereby reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.
Dr Annabel Bentley, assistant medical director for Bupa, commented: "This long-term study that looked at 1700 people over 10 years suggests that feeling happy may be linked to a slightly lower risk of heart disease. However, the type of research done means it cannot prove cause and effect, but can only show a link. Being a happy person may be linked to a slightly lower risk of heart disease, but the research does not tell us how or why.
"Also, if the link was true, how should someone go about making themselves happier for 10 years to get the same effect? Is it simply a matter of more laughter and less work? Or perhaps the answer is more work and a different relationship? This happiness research is interesting but we should not let it distract us from the fact that smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. So if you do smoke, try to stop as this will make your heart a lot happier in the long run."
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Related topics
- Cardiovascular system health factsheet
- Health eating
- Looking after you heart health factsheet
- Giving up smoking health factsheet
Read the study
Davidson. K, Mostofsky. E and Whang.W. Don't worry, be happy: positive affect and reduced 10-year incident coronary heart disease: The Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey. European Heart Journal. Published online, 17 February 2010 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehp603
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