We all love to be around people with a sunny disposition! Not only are they happy, they will probably live longer too! At least women will according to a new sub-study of the Women’s Health Initiative. Investigators followed nearly 100,000 women for 8 years who were free from cancer and heart disease at enrollment. After adjustment for several confounding factors, optimists had significantly lower rates of heart disease and total mortality compared to pessimists. Interestingly, the optimists were more likely to attend church at least once weekly. Independently, the women who had high scores on cynicism also experienced higher rates of heart disease and cancer.
PositiveTip: The old adage “a merry heart does good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22) can improve the quality and length of life!