Are You Too Mean to Die - Take a Second Look

Remember the movie " Grumpy Old Men " ? Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were widower neighbors whose anger and depression seemed to be the secret to long life. This popular theme in fiction, the character who is too mean to die, is based on a lie.

Studies show that depression and anger dramatically increase the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston tested the signs of 'negative effect' against emotional well-being, or 'positive effect.' Their research found the following to be true:

Happy older people have some protection against stroke. The elderly with "high levels of depressive symptoms", have more strokes than their peers who are not depressed.

During the study of4000 subjects, the mixed group of black and white elderly test subjects were evaluated for positive or negative affects by answering yes or no to 20 questions. Sixteen of the statements suggested negative emotions or experiences such as "I could not shake off the blues", "I had crying spells" or "People were unfriendly". The four positive statements were "I felt that I was just as good as other people"; "I felt hopeful about the future"; "I was happy"; and "I enjoyed life". Those who answered yes to the positive statements had a decreased risk of stroke over the six years of the study.

It was interesting to note that the results were dramatically increased for the men who participated in the study.














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