SAY SORRY TO YOUR WIFE

Sorry may be the hardest word - but scientists claim it could be one of the healthiest.

Researchers have discovered that women who receive an apology for hurtful behaviour suffer less stress and potential damage to their heart than those who don't.

It may be of little comfort to Tiger Woods' wife Elin, who received several fulsome apologies from the golfer for his serial infidelity, but it is claimed that the pulse of a wronged woman returns to normal 20 per cent quicker after a well-timed 'sorry' than without it.

Unfortunately for men, a male heartbeat takes longer to recover after an apology than without, according to the research, suggesting that men become irritated when there is an admission of guilt.

The research was undertaken by American scientists using 29 men and 59 women whose diastolic blood pressure was measured throughout an experiment.

Diastolic blood pressure is a measure of pressure in the blood vessels between heartbeats - if it is persistantly high it can increase the chances of stroke or heart attacks.

The men and women were asked individually to undertake a mathematical task. They were told they had five minutes to complete it but were interrupted after two minutes and told harshly to carry out the arithmetic more quickly.

They were interrupted twice more before five minutes had elapsed and told to speed up.

Finally they were told: 'You're obviously not good enough.'

Two minutes later half of the men and women were given full apologies.

The researchers found that, on average, the women's diastolic blood pressure returned to normal 20 per cent quicker if they received an apology, while the men's took 20 per cent longer to return to normal after a sorry.

One of the researchers said: 'Results indicate that there are potentially healthy benefits to forgiveness and apology'.

Courtesy MAIL