Reed
Orthodontics patients know all too well how much of a confidence boost a
straight smile can be. But proudly smiling also has numerous other health
benefits, according to some recent studies.
One study, conducted at the University of Kansas, showed that the act of smiling helped the heart recover more quickly
after completing a stressful task:
“The
neat thing about this is that smiling during the stressful period also has
positive benefits for your heart health for several minutes after you’re
smiling, which is pretty cool,” said one of the researchers. “We’ve seen so
much work out there showing it’s good for emotional and social health and
well-being, but this really is the first study among its kind to show that
smiling is beneficial to you physically.”
And another study highlighted the role
that happiness and smiling play in preventing heart disease!
Over a period of
ten years, Dr Davidson and her colleagues followed 1,739 healthy adults (862
men and 877 women) who were participating in the 1995 Nova Scotia Health
Survey. At the start of the study, trained nurses assessed the participants'
risk of heart disease and, with both self-reporting and clinical assessment,
they measured symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and the degree of
expression of positive emotions, which is known as "positive affect".
…
After taking
account of age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and negative emotions, the
researchers found that, over the ten-year period, increased positive affect
predicted less risk of heart disease by 22% per point on a five-point scale
measuring levels of positive affect expression (ranging from "none"
to "extreme").
So, there you have it, Club Reed! Smiling isn’t just for
good looks—it’s for good health.
If you’re an adult and have always considered getting
braces, there are lots of alternative treatments available to you, such as Invisalign and Smart Moves. Call Reed Orthodontics today for a consultation, at 412.421.8565, or click here to send
us a message.
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