IF YOU always look on the bright side of life, here’s another reason to be
cheerful—you’re less likely to have a stroke. Bruce Jonas and his
colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,
Georgia, followed more than 6000 people for an average of 16 years. They found
that severely depressed people were 73 per cent more likely to have a stroke
than their cheerful counterparts (Psychosomatic Medicine, vol 62, p
463). Even people with mild depression had an increased risk of a stroke.
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