Hope gives life and laughter is healthy. Tile wisdom that turns out to be hard truth. Neuropsychologist Erik Scherder and cardiologist Leonard Hofstra explain in their book Hope for Heart and Brain how you can grow old healthily with humor, optimism and relaxation.
“It was Erik’s idea to write this book,” says cardiologist Leonard Hofstra. “Of course I said yes. Erik is my mentor, my friend. But I can still see myself working for the publisher. Frankly, I had my doubts about how much I would be able to find out about the impact of ‘soft factors’ like stress, loneliness, optimism and resilience on the heart.” To his surprise, ‘an incredible amount of good’ research had been done into this.
“It has become much more than a book in the store. We are trying to start a movement in the Netherlands where we look at the positive things in life,” says Hofstra. On the website www.hoopvoorhartenhersenen.nl, everyone can test their resilience and well-being. In a few minutes you answer questions about how positive (or not) you have in life. The results will follow immediately with explanations and advice. In the new year, Scherder and Hofstra also want to give public lectures on ‘hope’ again.
‘Being single is dangerous for your heart’
But which emotions and feelings are and are not good for the heart and brain? Research shows that loneliness increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent. Optimists, on the other hand, have a 60 percent lower risk of a heart attack.
Hofstra: “Even if you are married, you have a 60 percent lower risk of a heart attack. Being single, which unfortunately I am now, is dangerous for your heart. Has to do with the fact that you are probably lonelier. People who live alone do not always cook and are more likely to have something delivered to their home. They may exercise less and have more stress. Singles also raise the alarm later if they have complaints. If you have pressure in your chest, there is no one to say: ‘Come on, let’s go to the doctor’.”
So getting married protects the heart. More in men than in women. “Women are more empathetic and caring and are much more likely to sound the alarm for their partner. Men turn over in bed again when the woman says she has chest pain. Apparently it doesn’t occur to them that women have an equal chance of having a heart attack.”
Even a bad marriage protects the man. This is not the case with women. “She then runs the same risk as a single person of having a heart attack. Women suffer more from that bad relationship. So from a cardiological point of view, the man should stay in the bad marriage and the woman should get out as quickly as possible.”
Quality of social network is more important than how much you exercise and what you eat and drink
“But the most important factor for healthy aging is the number of meaningful relationships someone has,” the cardiologist emphasizes. “The quality of your social network is even more important than how much you exercise and what you eat and drink.”
Can hope and optimism prevent us from getting sick? “No, that is really nonsense,” says Scherder. “But it helps with recovery or dealing with your illness if you set goals for which you are going to fight. It is very rewarding if, for example, after an accident you can say: ‘I succeeded, I walk a little better. And now I want to go even further.’ This does not mean that if you do not recover well, you have not done well.”
Hofstra nods: “We should not tell people that creating hope will solve all problems. That is not true. But given the circumstances, you can look at it in a different way.”
Optimism is healthy: ensures faster recovery after surgery, lower blood pressure, better cholesterol levels and can relieve pain. Scherder: “But you don’t hear us say: ‘The more optimistic, the better’. Because if you are very optimistic, you also take more risks. ‘Oh well, now let’s drink and smoke a lot. If I stop taking it later, the negative effects will disappear again.’ You feel immortal.”
An estimated 80 percent of people experience ‘unrealistic optimism’. We overestimate the possibility of positive things happening in the future and underestimate the negative ones. So we think we will live longer than the figures show, we estimate that we are less likely to get divorced, while more than half of Western marriages fail. We don’t think about the fact that we could get cancer, or be involved in an accident, crime or natural disaster. We also think that our children have more talent than is the case, Scherder and Hofstra describe.
Mild optimism is preferable to mild pessimism
But what is better: optimism or pessimism? “Mild pessimists avoid more risks and that can have a health benefit. The mild pessimist will, out of caution, eat healthier, exercise more and not smoke. Yet in the book we come to the conclusion that mild optimism is preferable to mild pessimism. It has the same health effects, but you just have a more enjoyable life as a mild optimist.”
Also healthy: laughing. Scherder: “If you get a smile, you give a smile. Within half a second. You can hardly suppress such a reaction.” Laughter increases the production of oxytocin, endorphins and dopamine. This gives a positive feeling, reduces anxiety, stress and depression, has an analgesic effect, lowers blood pressure and strengthens the immune system and memory.
Clinic clowns can really help remove pain and anxiety from children. A smile on the face of medical staff also works wonders. “Even a fake smile has a positive effect,” assures Scherder. And the one who smiles benefits. “There’s a good chance that that fake smile will turn into a real one.” You can recognize a spontaneous laugh by crow’s feet near the eyes; ‘characteristic of Duchenne’.
What are the professors themselves? Optimist to the core, or heavy-handed? “I am a worrier, but on the optimistic side. Even in the most difficult situations, I will not give in and convert setbacks into energy,” says Scherder. Hofstra: “I am an über-optimist. Maybe a little too much. But that’s perfect for my work. As a cardiologist, I radiate a positive message to patients. That gives confidence.”
You can train optimism and hope
But yes, not everyone is the ray of sunshine. “Our message is: optimism and hope can be trained.” How? At the end of each day, list five good points. “What was fun today? Can be small things; a nice lunch, a nice conversation. If you become aware of this, you learn to look at life differently,” Scherder tips. You can also practice positivity in the family. “Enter discussions with each other and ensure that no negative comments are made.”
The idea for the book was born during the Covid period. Scherder: “We received a lot of negative news at the time. If your stress level increases, your immune system decreases and you can become ill more quickly.”
Yet stress is not only negative. Scherder mentions the example of Leiden’s Lichelle Fisser. Her arm was torn off in a bus accident in India. “She was saved by acute stress, which initially numbed the pain. She had an arterial bleeding, lay down on her side and crawled out of the bus.”
In the ambulance she was given a plastic bag with her loose arm on her lap and the immense pain started. It was borderline. Thanks to positivity and resilience, she now has a great career at a ministry and she even windsurfs with one hand.
It’s crazy what people write on social media
Scherder and Hofstra also want to counterbalance ‘people who kill each other on X and Facebook’ with optimism. “It’s crazy what people write on social media. So negative. We often talk about children and cyberbullying, but when you see how we ourselves set a bad example. That is abnormal, especially for the animals,” says Hofstra.
“You have no idea what you are doing to others,” Scherder adds. He is making a series for the EO. It focuses on a journalist who had her life ‘live streamed’ for an hour every day during the corona crisis. “People looked along with her and said: ‘You look so nice.’ Others thought she was frumpy and said: ‘Can’t you dress a little more sexy? Show a little more of yourself’. This is how she got more and more likes.”
“Ten thousand people watched every day. It was a revenue model for her and addictive. It got to the point where people said, “You should get bigger breasts,” and she did. But in the end she was completely destroyed on that same channel, with ‘attention whore’ and other terrible reactions. She stopped streaming, had her breast enlargement removed and went to therapy because of trauma.”
For the series, Scherder put the woman in a scan and first showed her the positive reactions she received, followed by the hate messages. “We saw in her brain that the same areas were activated with negative messages as with physical pain. This burning of each other has to stop.”
Title: Hope for heart and brain
Authors: Erik Scherder and Leonard Hofstra
Athenaeum Publishers
Price 24.99 euros (256 pages)
2023-12-30 09:42:00
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