Want to live longer? Try being more optimistic, study says
Women who are more optimistic have a better chance of living longer.
A recent study found they have a reduced risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection, than women who are less optimistic.
Dr. Richa Sood, an internist at Mayo Clinic who was not involved in the study, says: “There were about 70,000 women in this particular study and what they were trying to figure out was if the women self-reported optimism at a certain point in their life, downstream were they less likely to die if they were more optimistic. They found that there was about a 30 per cent reduction in the risk of dying if women were in the highest quartile for optimism compared to those who were in the lowest quartile.”
Sood says too much stress can often lead to a fight or flight response, which can elevate blood pressure, affecting physical health as well as a person’s pessimistic or optimistic approach to a given situation.
“There’s a concept of heart rate variability, which is a measure of how relaxed we are. That goes down. That is the cardiovascular link and why we can start having more cardiovascular problems,” Sood says.
“That’s why optimistic people are less likely to go in that mode because they are not triggering their sympathetic response as much, and they’re not really pumping their cortisol as much.”
She adds, in general, optimistic people are less likely to be stressed, because they focus on positive emotions and have some sense of control in situations.
“People who don’t find optimism feel they have no control and that life is not going to go well,” says Sood.
“Optimistic people, because they feel that they can make some change, have this philosophy approach that ‘I can do something rather than avoidance.’ Also, in terms of approach, they are likely to do right things. They are likely to ask for help, from medical facilities, from their friends, or tap into internal resources to get their positive emotions going.”