People who are enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than less happy people, researchers from Columbia University report.

In this study of the relationship between happiness and heart disease, researchers concluded that if everyone did more of the things that made them happy they could significantly reduce their risk of heart attack and angina.

“We were excited to discover in a large population-based sample of adults that the tendency to express positive emotion predicted fewer heart attacks across a period of 10 years,” said lead researcher Karina Davidson, director of Columbia’s Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health.  “The study suggest that those people who are happier have heart protective outcomes.”