February 2012 Features

Happiness Protects Your Heart

People who are enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than less happy people, researchers from Columbia University report.

In this prospective study of the relationship between happiness and heart disease, researchers concluded that if everyone did more of the things that made them happy, they could significantly reduce their risk of heart attack and angina.

"We were excited to discover in a large population-based sample of adults that the tendency to express positive emotion predicted fewer heart attacks across a period of 10 years," said lead researcher Karina Davidson.

"The study suggests that those people who are happier have heart-protective outcomes," she added.

Davidson speculated that several factors may combine to producing this effect. Happier people tend to sleep better and to practice more heart-healthy behaviors, she said.

"But they may also be physiologically different than those of us who are more unhappy," Davidson said.

Additionally, these people tend to have less stress in their lives and handle the stress they do have better than less happy people, she added.

The report is published in the Feb. 18 issue of the European Heart Journal.

For the study, Davidson's team followed 1,739 men and women for 10 years. These people all participated in the 1995 Nova Scotia Health Survey. At the start of the study, everyone had their risk for heart disease assessed.

In addition, researchers looked for symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and the expression of positive emotions -- known as "positive affect." This is defined as the experience of pleasurable emotions, such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment, according to Davidson.

The researchers found that over the study period the happier someone was, the less likely he or she was to develop heart disease. In fact, for every point on a five-point scale that measured positive affect, the risk of heart disease dropped 22 percent.

However, unhappy people had a 22 percent increased risk of having a heart attack or chronic chest pain, compared with those who were somewhat happy. These somewhat happy people also had a 22 percent increased risk for heart problems compared with people who were moderately happy, the researchers noted.

People who were generally happy, but had a few symptoms of depression, did not see these symptoms increase their lowered risk for heart disease, Davidson added.

Davidson noted that she is involved in a clinical trial to test whether changing people's happiness level improves their heart health.

"In the meantime, it is good for one's quality of life and mental health to engage in happy behaviors or things that give you pleasure on a daily basis -- and many of us here in North America don't do that," she said.

Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that "negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger have been shown to be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality."

Some, but not all previous studies, have suggested that positive effect is associated with lower risk of disease and improved clinical outcomes, he added.

"This new, large population-based study suggests that positive effect is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease over 10 years independent of other cardiovascular risk factors and independent of depression and other negative effects," Fonarow said.

"These findings are intriguing. The clinical significance will depend on whether it can be subsequently shown that interventions designed to increase positive affect can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease," he added.

However, while maintaining a positive affect may be one factor associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, regular exercise, not smoking, a healthy diet and maintaining optimal blood pressure, cholesterol levels and body weight are well-established and essential, Fonarow noted.

Learn more about heart and vascular services at Baylor. Call 1.800.4BAYLOR or search online for a cardiologist.

Need for Blood and Organ Donors Continues to Grow 

Every single adult in the United States is carrying around the raw materials to save at least one life, and possibly more than one.

Organ and tissue transplants give thousands of people new leases on life every day. But for every individual who receives an organ donation, there are many, many more that wait. Organ donation is the one area in medicine where there is a cure, but often there aren’t enough organs to help everyone who needs one.

But the need for most of these donations is growing, not shrinking.

As of January 25, 112,772 people were on a national waiting list for an organ donation, up more than 80 percent from the 59,862 people on the list a decade before, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

"The gap is growing because more people are getting added to the waiting list than are donating," said Mary L. Ganikos, chief of the public and professional education branch at the agency's transplantation division.

Taking aim at the problem, health officials on Feb. 14 -- National Donor Day -- intend to urge people to:

• Fill out an organ and tissue donation card and register with their state registry for donors.
• Join the nationwide registry of volunteers willing to donate marrow and blood stem cells.
• Learn how to donate stems cells from umbilical cord blood after the birth of a baby.
• Donate blood.

Have Questions? Here’s what you need to know about the importance of being an organ donor.

Q: Why are so many men, women and children on the organ donation list?

A: The problem is not enough people agree to be donors upon their deaths, leaving an organ deficit and a long list of patients in need. Just as anyone can find himself or herself in need of an organ, anyone can be a potential donor.

Q: Are just organs needed?

A: Almost every part of the body can be used. With a single whole-body donation, eight to 50 lives can be saved or improved. Corneas can be used for eye surgery, skin for grafts and ligaments for knee reconstruction. Now it's even possible to use donated bone for patients facing certain bone cancers, helping them avoid amputation.

Q: What options exist for those waiting for a new organ?

A: Rather than sit on the list for six to seven years, getting sicker, many turn to family and friends for what is called a living donation. The most common type is a whole-kidney donation, although segments of a liver or lung also now can be transplanted from a living donor. In those cases, the donated piece of lung or liver grows into a new organ in the recipient, and the donor regenerates his or her missing portion.

Q: How can I help?

A: It's simple. Register yourself as an organ and tissue donor. In the event of your untimely death, your family likely will be approached about donation. It's important you share your wishes with them to avoid any confusion or delays.

Learn more about transplant services at Baylor and how organ donation makes a difference.

Lifestyle Changes Might Alter Breast Cancer Rates

Lifestyle changes such as losing weight, drinking less alcohol and getting more exercise could lead to a substantial reduction in breast cancer cases across an entire population, according to a new model that estimates the impact of these modifiable risk factors.

Although such models are often used to estimate breast cancer risk, they are usually based on things that women can't change, such as a family history of breast cancer. Until now, there have been few models based on ways women could reduce their risk through changes in their lifestyle.

U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers created the model using data from an Italian study that included more than 5,000 women. The model included three modifiable risk factors (alcohol consumption, physical activity and body mass index) and five risk factors that are difficult or impossible to modify (family history, education, job activity, reproductive characteristics, and biopsy history).

Benchmarks for some lifestyle factors included getting at least 2 hours of exercise a week (for women 30-39) and having a body mass index (BMI) lower than 25 (in women 50 and older).

The model predicted that improvements in modifiable risk factors would result in a 1.6 percent reduction in the average 20-year absolute risk in a general population of women aged 65; a 3.2 percent reduction among women with a positive family history of breast cancer; and a 4.1 percent reduction among women with the most non-modifiable risk factors.

The authors pointed out that the predicted changes in lifestyle to achieve these goals -- such as former and current drinkers becoming non-drinkers -- might be overly optimistic.

But, the findings may help in designing programs meant to encourage women to make lifestyle changes, according to the researchers. For example, a 1.6 percent absolute risk reduction in a general population of one million women amounts to 16,000 fewer cases of cancer.

The study appears online June 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, where the author of an accompanying editorial applauded the research.

Read more about cancer care at Baylor, including healthy lifestyle tips and tools. To find a physician, call 1.800.4BAYLOR or search online.