Be nice, it's good for your heart!
mis à jour le 14 July 2015 à 18:35It's not always easy to be nice and considerate when others get on our nerves. However, recent studies show that taking a distance and avoiding being aggressive is good for the heart.
Between the driver who took the unnecessary long route, the colleague who claimed our idea or the teacher of our youngest who gave us a lecture because we arrived 5 minutes late to pick him up, remaining gracious appears to be an impossible task. Yet it does us good not to be hostile. Not to make ourselves look good or save face (that's another issue ...), but to avoid the risk of stroke.
Scientists from the University of Minnesota studied the behaviour of 6,749 adults aged 45 to 84 years for more than 8 years to see if there was a link between their emotional state and the risk of clots or ischemic transient. Not surprisingly, they found that being very stressed or depressed were very bad for the heart. More unexpectedly, they could show that manifesting hostility toward others doubled the risk of stroke. At the same time, they found no link between the act of anger on regular basis and healthy arteries.
HOW TO LOWER THE RISK OF STROKE?
In summary, we may be frustrated with people without consequences to our heart but on the other hand we should avoid being aggressive and cynical. These are conflicting results that researchers cannot seem to explain yet. Until we know more, all we can do is advise you to remain calm and smile instead of venting your frustrations at every opportunity.
Source: Chronic Stress, Depressive Symptoms, Anger, Hostility, and Risk of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, July 2014.
