Optimists live longer, healthier lives, study shows

By Sheilah Downey

Women who look at the bright side of life tend to lead healthier lifestyles and live longer than their surly counterparts, according to a study released today.

In an eight-year study of post-menopausal women, optimists had decreased death rates and were less likely to be smokers, hypertensive and diabetic than pessimists, said researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Optimism was described as expecting that good, rather than bad, things will happen. The nearly 100,000 participants were asked such questions as "In unclear times, I usually expect the best," or, conversely, "It is safer to trust no one."

Women who had the brightest outlooks had a 9 percent lower risk for developing heart disease and a 14 percent lower risk of dying from all causes than women who scored lowest for optimism.

Women who were most hostile and cynical were 16 percent more likely to die than those who scored lowest for hostility and cynicism. Heart disease rates were similar for both groups, according to the study.

The study's lead author, Dr. Hilary Tindle, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Internal Medicine, said the effects of optimism and cynical hostility were independent of one another.

"After taking into account a woman's degree of cynical hostility, the health effects of optimism did not change," said Tindle in a University press release. "The reverse was also true. A woman's degree of optimism did not change the health effects of cynical hostility."

The study looked at nearly 100,000 women in the Women's Health Initiative, funded by the National Institutes of Health. It followed women aged 50 and older since 1994, with on-going follow-up.

Results of the study were published in "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association."