Being optimistic makes you live longer
3 November 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
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Having a generally optimistic attitude in life seems to actually help you live longer. Well at least being optimistic may reduce your chances of heart and blood vessel related illness when you are in your 60s. This is according to a study done in the Netherlands in which 999 men and women aged 65 to 85 years were quized on their well being using a special questionare test. They follwed up on the people over 9 years and discovered that those who rated higher on the optimism scale tended to have lived longer than those who score poorly on the optimism scale. The study also took into account factors such as age, sex, chronic disease, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, history of cardiovascular disease or hypertension, body mass index, and total cholesterol level. The study presented in the Archives of General Psyhciatry was led by Dr. Erik Giltay and collegues. |
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