Cheerful women have less cardiovascular disease: study
Reported August 12, 2009
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — Less cardiovascular disease and fewer deaths are reported among women who are optimistic, a new study suggests.
In the study, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh measured optimism by a questionnaire on whether a woman agreed with such statements as “In unclear times, I usually expect the best.”
The questions measuring cynicism asked about agreement with such statements as “It is safer to trust no one” and “I have often had to take orders from people who did not know as much as I did.”
The study found that women who take a darker view of life are more likely to develop heart trouble than those with a cheerful and trusting outlook.
The study, published in the August issue of Circulation, tracked more than 97,000 postmenopausal American women for more than eight years.
Women within the highest 25 percent of optimism scores had a 9 percent lower chance of developing heart disease and a 14 percent lower chance of dying of any cause, said the study.
Women with the highest degree of cynical hostility were 16 percent more likely to die than those with the most trust in their fellow humans, according to the study.
“In addition to looking at hormones and their effect on heart disease and cancer, the study also examined psychosocial and social factors and how they affected the health of postmenopausal women,” said Dr. Hilary A. Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the university, and lead author of the study.
“Fortunately, we have this wealth of information on the psychological profile at the time they joined the study.”
The results most likely apply to men as well as women, Tindle said, citing several previous studies, such as a 2004 Dutch report that men who were more optimistic died less often of cardiovascular disease.
There are several possible explanations for the new finding, Tindle said.
Money might well be involved, since “optimism is associated with higher income and education,” she said. But curiously, “the level of socioeconomic status when a woman was young was better associated with outcome than current status,” Tindle said.
The study also listed “three broad categories of possibilities” linked with optimism.
One is related to lifestyle factors. “Optimistic women had more stable risk profiles, with less high blood pressure and diabetes,” Tindle said. “They didn’t smoke as much and tended to exercise more. So their lower risk might just be associated with living healthier.”
It’s also possible that optimists are more likely to follow their doctors advice more faithfully. “Previous studies have shown that optimists tend to follow the diet they are told to follow,” Tindle noted.
And a woman’s outlook on life might affect how she responds to stress, she said.
Source : xinhuanet.com