Always Look on the Bright Side

A negative outlook on life is bad for your health, right? That common sense truth has just gotten a boost from a major study that finds a strong link between attitude and health.

More than 97,000 women age 50 to 79 were surveyed twice with eight years between the surveys. They were all free of cancer and heart disease the first time. University of Pittsburgh researchers found the optimists were 9% less likely to have developed heart disease and 14% less likely to have died during the intervening eight years. Women with a lot of cynical hostility were 16% more likely to die. The relationship was there even after taking into account pre-existing good health habits.

Read more about the federally funded Women's Health Initiative project in the journal Circulation, published by the American Heart Association.

Stephen Goforth