Medical memo: Hearty humor
Medical memo
The mind and body are inseparable aspects of the human organism, two sides of the precious coin called mankind. Physical health has a powerful influence on mental outlook. The reverse is also true, but scientists who study the mind-body connection typically focus on the link between negative emotions and cardiovascular illness. They have learned, for example, that stress raises blood pressure and increases cardiac risk, that hostility and anger can be truly heartbreaking, and that depression and social isolation contribute to heart attacks and impair recovery and rehabilitation.
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