Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. Kubzansky, American Journal of Epidemiology, online December 7, 2016, doi: 10.1093/aje/kww182 "Optimism and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study," Eric S. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P01 CA87969, UM1 CA186107, T32 HL 098048). Harvard Medical School assistant professor Dawn DeMeo was also a co-author. Other Harvard Chan School authors of the study included Francine Grodstein, professor, and Immaculata De Vivo, associate professor, both in the Department of Epidemiology and Laura Kubzansky, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness. "Encouraging use of these interventions could be an innovative way to enhance health in the future." "Previous studies have shown that optimism can be altered with relatively uncomplicated and low-cost interventions-even something as simple as having people write down and think about the best possible outcomes for various areas of their lives, such as careers or friendships," said postdoctoral research fellow Kaitlin Hagan, co-lead author of the study. While other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of early death from cardiovascular problems, this was the first to find a link between optimism and reduced risk from other major causes. The most optimistic women had a 16% lower risk of dying from cancer 38% lower risk of dying from heart disease 39% lower risk of dying from stroke 38% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease and 52% lower risk of dying from infection. The most optimistic women (the top quartile) had a nearly 30% lower risk of dying from any of the diseases analyzed in the study compared with the least optimistic women (the bottom quartile), the study found. They looked at participants' levels of optimism and other factors that might play a role in how optimism may affect mortality risk, such as race, high blood pressure, diet, and physical activity. The study analyzed data from 2004-2012 from 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study, a long-running study tracking women's health via surveys every two years. One other possibility is that higher optimism directly impacts our biological systems, Kim said. The study also found that healthy behaviors only partially explain the link between optimism and reduced mortality risk. "Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges." "While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience may also make a difference," said Eric Kim, research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-lead author of the study. The study will appear online Decemin the American Journal of Epidemiology. The study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death-including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection-over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic. Boston, MA - Having an optimistic outlook on life-a general expectation that good things will happen-may help people live longer, according to a new study from Harvard T.H.
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