Having a healthy concept about life has always helped people to forget things that made them angry. It appears that optimism is also good for your body, not only for your spirit, at least this is the conclusion of a new study presented this week at the American Psychosomatic Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

 

Researchers led by Dr. Hilary Tindle, an internist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, looked at rates of death and chronic health conditions among women involved in Women’s Health Initiative study. There were more than 100,000 women over the age of 50 involved in the study. The study was launched in 1991 by the National Institutes of Health.

 

For the study, the women had to answer a serious a questions that measured optimistic or pessimistic tendencies. Based on their answers, the researchers found that optimistic women were 14 percent more likely to be alive after eight years than their pessimistic peers. More than that, optimistic women were 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease and 33 percent less likely to die from all causes. High blood pressure, diabetes and smoking were less likely to happen in optimistic women as well.

 

“Optimistic people seem to seek medical advice and follow it,” Tindle said. “They [also] have good social networks and strong social relationship,” which could help them cope with chronic stress, a risk factor for heart disease.

 

There is a simple conclusion to these findings: be optimistic! Don’t let worries and stress get you!