Optimism Does Wonders for the Hearts of Men

"Think it and it might just become true!" This is just one way to describe the findings detailed by researchers of the University of Rochester's Medical Center, who have recently discovered that men who really believe that they have a low chance of developing a cardiovascular disease have in fact three times less odds of dying as a result of a heart attack or a stroke.

The same does not appear to be available for women too, probably due to gender differences - meaning that positive thinking rarely has any effect on the incidence of death as a result of heart attacks in women. The study, stretching over a period of 15 years, involved some 2,816 male individuals with ages between 35 to 75, none of which ever had any knowing of suffering from a particular heart disease. All were questioned regarding their opinion on the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke in the next 5 years.

Almost half of the men in the study rated themselves as being at low risk, as opposed to the medical investigations that established that they were actually at a high risk. At the same time, women appeared to be somewhere more self-conscious about their health and thus responded more accurately to the question.

"Clearly, holding optimistic perceptions of risk has its advantages for men," said assistant professor Robert Gramling of the Family Medicine and Community and Preventive Medicine.

When it comes to explaining to a patient the risks to which they are exposed, doctors should first understand how the respective person feels about their health; thus communication is a critical component in revealing the results of a test to a patient, Gramling explained.

"It is not clear whether we should seek to disabuse people of optimistic 'misperceptions' in pursuit of changing behavior. Perhaps we should work on changing behaviors by instilling more confidence in the capacity to prevent having a heart attack, rather than raising fears about having one," he added.