For Christmas, let’s give ourselves a gift. We love ourselves. Let us accept ourselves, let us calmly reflect on our being through meditation. And the health of the cardiovascular system will also be better. At least for the middle-aged woman, this simple psychological strategy can prove very useful in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, independently of the classic risk factors such as high cholesterol and hypertension.
A research coordinated by Rebecca Thurston, of the University of Pittsburgh, published in Health Psychology. The survey is particularly current, considering that more and more often it is women who assist the rest of the people in the family, parents, husband, children, and this trend has further expanded with the Covid-19 pandemic, an additional reason for psychological stress. and physical.
The survey examined just under 200 women between the ages of 45 and 67, associating physical parameters with the psychological condition. In this sense, a questionnaire was completed by the participants aimed at knowing the most intimate aspects relating to their true or presumed inadequacy, to the defects that they considered heavier and in any case able to influence their well-being, to the attention in terms of tenderness that they reserved. in the most complex emotional conditions.
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On the physical front, to evaluate the correlations between psychological conditions and the state of arterial health, the women involved in the research were subjected to an ultrasound check of the thickness of the carotid arteries, which carry blood and oxygen to the brain. The results of the survey were extremely clear. Those who “appreciated” themselves more tended to have a thinner arterial wall, with a lower presence of atherosclerotic lesions potentially correlated, in the following years, with possible cardiovascular problems. This trend was maintained even after the evaluation of behaviors that could affect risk, such as a sedentary lifestyle, a negative emotional state or the habit of smoking.
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On the other hand, it is not the first time that the emotional state and the need for meditation that improves the perception of one’s being is correlated with a more or less increased danger of encountering problems such as heart attacks or strokes. Just think in this sense of the value of an anti-stress “path” – in this case for those who already suffer from heart – evaluated in the context of a research published on JAMA, led by the coordinated team among others by Viola Vaccarino, a lecturer at Emory University in Atlanta. The study, which obviously cannot be considered conclusive on the subject but which indicates a series of very significant indications, examined 918 people between the ages of 18 and 79, with stable coronary artery disease, one third of whom was hospitalized for heart attack in the two quarters preceding the start of the research.
Studying the psychological side and highlighting who is at risk could represent a need to implement specific countermeasures, from mindfulness to yoga and guided aerobic physical activity, or perhaps even drugs that can affect the cardiovascular effects of emotional tension. In short: for heart health the important thing is to learn to appreciate and love yourself, perhaps using specific meditation and relaxation techniques to be chosen on a case-by-case basis. It is a commitment for everyone. To really wish you a Merry Christmas.
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