article_snippet: Heart attack victims can enjoy a healthy recovery if Heart attack victims look on the bright side of life, research found .
article_snippet: Heart attack victims can enjoy a healthy recovery if Heart attack victims look on the bright side of life, research found.
article_snippet: Pessimists who grumble through life were twice as likely to suffer another heart attack, require surgery or even die, compared with more cheerful patients.
article_snippet: That is according to a group of scientists at University College London who spent four years studying the mental attitudes of 369 patients admitted to hospital with unstable angina and heart attacks.
article_snippet: While it is widely known that optimism is linked to better heart health, this is the first study to look at the impact of a patient’s attitude after suffering a heart attack.
article_snippet: And the first study to look at the impact of a patient’s attitude after suffering a heart attack showed that half of the most pessimistic patients who smoked were still smoking on year after going into hospital.
article_snippet: However, the first study to look at the impact of a patient’s attitude after suffering a heart attack did find that optimistic patients were no more likely to do more exercise than pessimists.
article_snippet: Lead author of the research, Professor Steptoe, said: ‘Our research shows that optimistic people are more likely to take advice about lifestyle changes on board, like quitting smoking and eating more healthily –
article_snippet: ‘Our findings could be used to identify pessimistic patients and encourage pessimistic patients to make the necessary changes to pessimistic patients lifestyle that can ultimately lead to better health.
article_snippet: ‘Suffering from a serious condition like angina or heart attack can take a drastic emotional toll, which we know can lead to depression, further lowering the chances of a full recovery after a heart attack.
article_snippet: Depression has also been linked to poor outcomes for heart patients.
article_snippet: These findings discovered that pessimistic patients were twice as likely to have depressive symptoms a year after suffering a heart attack or unstable angina.
article_snippet: their study was published in Psychosomatic Medicine.
highlights_snippet: Scientists at UCL spent 4 years studying mental attitudes of heart patients .
  
highlights_snippet: It is widely known that optimism is linked to better heart health .
  
highlights_snippet: This is first study to look at impact of a patient’s attitude after heart attack .
  