According to new research done by American scientists, people who are happy and enthusiastic in their lives are less likely to develop heart problems that those who tend to have a depressing mood.

This research is the first to show that there is a relationship between positive emotions and heart disease. The new study was done by Karina Davidson of the Medical Center of Columba University in the U.S.A.

The researchers studied about 1700 people for ten years, analyzing longitudinal emotional states in relation to their heart health.

They found that so-called “positive emotions” (joy, happiness, excitement, satisfaction, etc) reduce the risk of heart attack, angina or stroke by 22%. In contrast, negative emotions (sadness, hostility, stress) increase the risk of heart disease.

If someone is generally happy and optimistic, state the scientists, but only ocassionally has negative emotions, e.g. due to a specific event, then it increases the risk of heart disease.

According to Davidson, an interpretation of the importance of positive emotions is that people who feel this way, relax more, recover faster from unpleasant occurrences and do not keep reliving them in their mind, creating even more stress.