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Duidelijk verband tussen gezonde geest en
gezond lichaam.*
Een onderzoek in London geeft aan dat mensen die
lekker in hun vel zitten ook duidelijk gezonder zijn. Er is een duidelijk
verband tussen je gelukkig voelen en lichaamsfuncties die je beschermen tegen
hart- en vaatziektes, biabetes, stress en afwijkingen van het immuunsysteem.
Happy People Make
for Healthy People
Drop in stress
hormone tied to reduced disease risk, study suggests.
(HealthDay News) --
A happy camper is a healthy camper, say British researchers who have unearthed
evidence of a biological connection between a positive sense of well-being and
reduced risk for disease among middle-aged men and women.
In this week's
issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors
report that simply being happy -- at work and at play -- is directly related
with specific bodily functions that protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune
deficiencies and stress-related illnesses.
"There's a
direct link between how we're feeling and the biological processes which relate
to illness and illness risk," said study author Dr. Andrew Steptoe, the
British Heart Foundation professor of psychology at University College London.
"Biology is going to be on the side of those people who are going to be in
a more positive state of mind, and it may well stand these people in good stead
for their future health."
Steptoe and his
colleagues administered laboratory stress tests and standardized mental health
questionnaires to more than 200 white men and women in the London area, aged 45
to 59.
All the
participants were employed civil servants, with income levels ranging from high
to low. Medical exams had determined that all were in relatively good physical
health, with no prior history of heart
disease or high blood pressure.
Blood samples were
taken before and after the stress tests. The researchers then followed each
participant over the course of a single routine workday, using portable monitors
to automatically assess their blood pressure and heart rate every 20 minutes
from the start of work until bedtime.
All the men and
women kept a diary of their location and activities throughout the monitoring.
They also rated how happy they felt -- on a scale of one to five -- at the time
of each assessment. Rankings of momentary feelings of stress, control, and/or fatigue were also noted.
Shifting levels of
the stress hormone cortisol were additionally measured with saliva samples that
the participants were asked to collect every two hours during the same work day,
and on a separate leisure day.
The researchers
reported that age, marital status, gender and income appeared to have no impact
on how happy the participants said they felt while at work.
Steptoe and his
team also observed that those men and women who demonstrated the lowest levels
of psychological distress on the earlier mental health screenings appeared to be
generally happier people.
And those men and
women who were happiest at work seemed to be happiest at play, they said --
although, for all participants, happiness was in more abundance during days off
at home than during days "on" at the office.
Among the
biological markers explored, not all appeared to influence happiness. Blood
pressure was not associated with the participants' self-assessed happiness,
while heart rate appeared to be a factor only among men -- being highest among
the least happy men.
However, cortisol
readings did appear to firmly back the notion of a biological connection between
stress and happiness. The researchers found the happiest men and women had the
lowest levels of cortisol. Cortisol levels were, on average, more than 32
percent higher among the least happy individuals.
The researchers
noted the danger that high stress hormone levels
can pose over time, highlighting the association between elevated cortisol and a
higher risk for developing high blood pressure, diabetes, abdominal obesity and a decreased resistance to infection.
On another
biological front, the authors reported that blood tests revealed up to 12 times
higher levels of a liver-produced protein known as plasma fibrinogen among the least happy men and women.
Fibrinogen works to
stop bleeding by helping clots to form, but elevated
levels of the protein have been associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular
disease.
The researchers
concluded that a having a strong sense of well-being and happiness may help
boost biological systems, ultimately helping to lower the risk for developing a
range of illnesses down the road. And they emphasized that this
happiness-healthiness pathway appears to be a direct mind-body link that is
independent of lifestyle choices, such as exercise, smoking and drinking.
"There's no
doubt that people should do the healthy lifestyle things -- being physically
active, and more prudent in their diets, and not smoking -- irrespective of this
biological link," Steptoe advised. "But we need to think about things
that will lead to more positive states as well. Doing things that you want to
do, and getting gratification from those things."
But Steptoe
cautioned that the road to becoming a happier -- and thereby healthier -- person
can be tricky to navigate.
"I can't
really prescribe how people should make themselves happier, because philosophers
have failed at that for centuries," he said. "But most of our sense of
happiness seems to relate to having good relationships with family and friends,
and that's not something that can be maintained without some investment of
effort, and keeping an appropriate balance. That balance, of course, is going to
be different for different people."
Dr. Albert Ray is
regional coordinator for health promotion and preventive care for Kaiser
Permanente Southern California in San Diego. He said, "I try to give people
concrete things to do to help de-stress. Get a dog, get a cat, go out, play
sports, go to their religious institution, do yoga, get married, have a
relationship, go on a vacation, do things that can relax a person."
Ray wholeheartedly
applauded the researchers' ability to isolate the biological evidence for the
effect happiness has on our bodies -- something he said he's observed
anecdotally for years.
"There's no
question that people with a positive attitude have lower blood pressure, suffer
less illness, usually have lower cholesterol and better resistance to most infections,"
he said. "And when they do get sick, usually a positive attitude can result
in shorter illness."
"And I think
every doctor tries to tell their patient to get out and smell the flowers, go
for a walk, read a book, and try and look on the bright side rather than have a
negative outlook," Ray added. "It just seems sensible to reason. Even
without being a doctor." (Mei 2005)