A new study conducted by Paul Mills – a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine – reports that gratitude can literally change the health of one’s heart.
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Mills has studied heart health in relation to behavior for decades. It’s already acknowledged that thinking positively on it’s own can relieve health detracting depression, stress, and anxiety. Mills wondered if the specific feeling of gratitude could positively affect heart health, reports NPR News Nov. 23.
Mills recruited 186 study participants, men and women who were around the age of 66. Each of the participants in the study already had some heart health issues such as chronic high blood pressure, former heart attacks and even heart infections.
Mills was not able to specify why, but the results of the study showed that the more thankful participants were, the healthier they were. "They had less depressed mood, slept better and had more energy," says Mills. Mills also found that participants who felt the feeling of gratefulness exhibited lower blood inflammation levels (an indicator of good heart health).
Participants filled out standardized questionnaires, rating their levels of gratefulness for the people, places and things in their lives. As a follow up to his initial findings, Mills took a look at test results for 40 heart disease patients, taking note of things like biological factors. He then halved the group, asking 20 of the patients to keep a journal for most of the days during the week. In the journal, each patient was asked to write two or three things they were grateful for that day.
Two months later, Mills tested the same patients again. He found that in those who kept a journal, their blood inflammation levels decreased and their heart rhythms also improved. The twenty who had written down what they were grateful for on a regular basis saw increased heart health.
Mills notes that while he’s not specifically sure why gratitude increases heart health, he suspects that being grateful decreases stress. Stress is a known factor in decreased heart health. According to the American Heart Association, stress can contribute to high blood pressure, ulcers, IBS and even asthma. "Taking the time to focus on what you are thankful for," Mills says, "letting that sense of gratitude wash over you — this helps us manage and cope." This helps us to also maintain a healthy heart.
*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com
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