Live Longer Without Trying

We don't often hear about the virtues of passivity and helplessness. For those who have heart disease, however, a little apathy may be the best medicine.

Psychologists have been telling us for years that an active approach to solving problems and a sense that the solutions are in our own hands are imperative for a healthy, happy life. But in a study performed by Matthias Muller, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Konstanz in Germany, men who assertively tackled a problem in the lab and who tend to hold themselves responsible for their own performance experienced heightened heart rate and blood pressure that persisted past the end of the test. In contrast, those who were required to passively sit through the experiment or who characteristically look to external circumstances to explain their performance did not experience a rise in readings.

Participants in the study were young and healthy, but the same rise in cardiovascular activity could be hazardous for people at high risk for or recovering from heart disease--a good argument for going with the flow.

A.M.P

ILLUSTRATION (COLOR)