WASHINGTON — Feeling happy and hopeful appears to be powerful medicine in reducing the risk of stroke, researchers say.

The link between depression and a heightened stroke risk has been established in several previous studies on the impact of psychological factors on stroke incidence.

But researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch investigated the impact of positive emotions on the risk of suffering a stroke — the third-leading cause of death in most developed countries, including the United States.

Their study, published recently in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, followed 2,478 people aged 65 and older for six years.

The researchers found that subjects scoring highly in emotional well-being — such as feelings of happiness and hopefulness — had significant reductions in their stroke risk while risk increased for depressed subjects.

A stroke involves loss of brain functions caused by a loss of blood circulation to areas of the brain.

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"Positive affect (emotion) is related to a number of characteristics known to improve health or to protect against chronic disease," Glenn Ostir, who led the study, said in a statement. "Individuals who report high levels of positive affect may be more likely to exercise, to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to adhere to medical therapy."

Researchers said subjects who scored highly on questionnaires for emotional well-being had a stroke incidence that was one-third that of subjects who scored zero.

They added that people scoring highly for depressive symptoms experienced only fractional increases in stroke incidence above those with little or no sign of negative affect.

The reduction in stroke associated with emotional well-being was more pronounced in men than women and in whites than blacks, the study found.

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