Women who are optimistic about life, on average, live longer and less likely to die from cancer, heart disease, strokes or pneumonia than depressed women, Harvard scientists say in an article published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
“Today, our efforts are mainly focused on reducing the risks of getting this or that disease in the physical sense of the word, but at the same time, as our and other studies show, increasing psychological resistance can also affect all this. We have shown that people need to be more optimistic as it encourages them to live healthier lifestyles,”said Eric Kim of Harvard University (USA).
Kim and his colleagues came to this conclusion after examining data collected by social and health services through the Nursing Health Monitoring (NHS) project, which ran from 2004 to 2012.
In total, scientists managed to obtain data on the diet and health of over 70 thousand American women and Americans in middle and old age, about 30 thousand of whom died during the work of this monitoring project. In addition to data on the diseases and health status of these nurses and nurses, scientists also collected information about their health and psychological state.
The authors took advantage of this and compared how often the nurses died or got sick, how well they felt, and whether they considered themselves optimistic. This comparison led to unexpected and highly visible results.
In particular, it turned out that the most optimistic women, on average, died 30% less often than their peers and colleagues, who were more often in a depressed mood. In addition, they had cancer 16% less often than usual, heart disease - 38%, stroke - 39%, lung disease and infections - 38% and 52%.
Scientists believe that such "pluses" from an optimistic mood are associated with the fact that people who feel good are less likely to acquire bad habits and lead an unhealthy lifestyle than people in a state of depression. This, according to the authors of the article, should encourage the US health authorities not only to promote healthy lifestyles and minimize the risks of disease, but also to help people maintain a positive in their lives.