Gratitude Improves Heart Failure and Everything Else

As we prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wanted to remind to give a little reminder that gratitude is good for us psychologically and physically, improving our heart and our spirit. Start a gratitude journal today and continue it couple times a week or write someone you will see on Thanksgiving a gratitude letter. Then, read it to them and feel the benefits of practicing gratitude in our lives.
            First, let’s look at how gratitude activities improve our spirit. The psychological benefits of gratitude include:

·       Lowering the risk of depression

·       Reducing negative emotions like envy, regret, and resentment

·       Overcoming trauma and improving mental resilience, even during hard times

·       Lowering aggression and increasing empathy

·       Improving self-esteem  

Moreover, developing an attitude of gratitude not only makes us happier and more psychologically “fit”, it can improve our health. Various studies have found positive benefits of gratitude for our physical health, including:

·       Reducing stress hormones like cortisol by up to 23%

·       Improving duration and quality of sleep by keeping a gratitude journal

·       Increasing white blood cells that help fight disease

·       Making healthier choices, like avoiding smoking

Gratitude benefits are not limited to the area of positive psychology. New research is a variety of disciplines is extremely encouraging. Another area where we see the positive impact of practicing gratitude is in the study of cardiac medicine.

One recent study, presented at University of California, San Diego, Institute for Public Health's Annual Public Health Research Day in April 2015, focused on the benefits of applying gratitude to the field of behavioral cardiology. This field of cardiac medicine used to be focused on negative traits, like hostility, depression and stress. But now, this field has turned to more positive psychology attributes, like gratitude, compassion and empathy.

Remarkably, in this study, beginning a “gratitude journal” was shown as an effective resource for improving the struggles associated with the symptoms of heart failure. In a cross-sectional study on over 180 heart failure patients, the patients who practiced this gratitude activity in their lives exhibited less depression, better sleep and even a positive physical benefit, less peripheral inflammation.

Furthermore, this study included a randomized clinical trial where patients were assigned to either eight weeks of gratitude journaling plus their usual care or eight weeks of usual care alone. Participants who kept the gratitude journal had increased heart rate variability, which is a measure of reduced cardiac risk.

In addition, these patients showed reduced circulating levels of inflammatory biomarkers IL-6 and sTNFr1, which is associated with cardiovascular disease. The physical benefit of keeping a gratitude journal furthers our understanding of the far-reaching positive impact of applying gratitude activities in our lives.