Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 16, 1994                   TAG: 9404180162
SECTION: NATIONAL/INT                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROCKVILLE, MD.                                LENGTH: Short

A HEALTHY ATTITUDE REALLY IS GOOD FOR YOU

The study released Friday identified optimism as a powerful predictor of who will live and who will die after the diagnosis of heart disease. It is the latest in a series of recent reports showing that people's emotions and friendships play a critical role in recovery.

``Optimism is a good thing,'' Dr. Daniel Mark said. ``When people give up and feel they are not going to make it, it's usually a self-fulfilling prophesy.''

Mark, a heart specialist at Duke University, based his findings on a follow-up on 1,719 men and women who had undergone heart catheterization, a common procedure used to check the arteries for clogging. He outlined the results at a meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

The patients typically underwent the test because of chest pain, and all had heart disease. When interviewed, 14 percent said they doubted they would recover enough to resume their daily routines.

After one year, 12 percent of these pessimists had died, compared with 5 percent of those who were optimistic about getting better.

Even when the severity of people's conditions was taken into account, outlook was a crucial factor in survival. In fact, optimism often seemed to have little bearing on how sick people were. Some of those with very mild heart disease had the grimmest views of their prospects.

``The mind is a tremendous tool or weapon, depending on your point of view,'' Mark said.