Expansionary Institute

New Study Links Optimism and Longevity (Biogenesis),

New Study Links Optimism and Longevity

A new study shows that a little bit of optimism may protect older men against coronary heart disease. The study is based on a scoring system that characterized men on a line that ran from pessimistic to optimistic, with each step up the scale toward optimism decreasing the risk. The most optimistic men had a risk of heart disease of less than half of that of the most pessimistic, the study said. The details appear in the November/December issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Pessimistic men were likelier to have more than two alcoholic drinks a day and have a lower education level, but these factors did not account for the difference in heart disease rates. "TheseÖdata are among the first to demonstrate that a more optimistic [perspective], or viewing the glass as half full, lowers the risk of CHD in older men," says lead author Laura D. Kubzansky, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health.

The studyís data came from 1,306 men whose average age at enrollment was just over 60 and who were followed for an average of 10 years. In spite of the protective effect on the development of CHD, the optimistic men were no less likely to die of any cause, than were pessimistic men in this study. This could have been related to the fact that all the men, as veterans, had ready access to health care through the department of veteransí affairs, reducing their risk of dying from heart disease.

According to the researchers, the protective effects of optimism may be, in part, due to lower stress, which has been shown to decrease heart disease risk. Also, optimists are likelier to engage in health-promoting activities such as exercising and not smoking.

But they point out that their findings pertain specifically only to white men and cannot be generalized to women or non-white men.

Kubzansky says other research has shown optimism to be "at least partially learned" and that training programs to increase optimism may be useful. The study was supported with funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging.

Sat Nov 24