Optimists are healthier

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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MunichOptimists not only have fewer worries, their health also benefits from their positive attitude - especially a certain organ.

"People who are very optimistic are twice as likely to have ideal cardiovascular health as their more pessimistic people," explains Rosalba Hernandez of the University of Illinois.

The scientist and her team used seven parameters defined by the American Heart Association to measure heart health. These include blood pressure, body mass index, fasting blood sugar and cholesterol levels.In addition, diet, physical activity and tobacco consumption.

The researchers determined this in around 5100 participants between 45 and 84 years of age. The volunteers also completed questionnaires that measured their mental health and level of optimism. They also provided physical health claims with regard to arthritis, liver, and kidney diseases.

Healthy hearts

In the evaluation, the researchers took into account the origin, age, income and education of the participants. The data adjusted in this way showed that the participants with the highest optimism values ​​also showed ideal values ​​on the heart health scale twice as often as the pessimists among the participants. So the optimists had better blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipid values. They were also more physically active, had a lower BMI on average, and smoked less often. Overall, their state of health was, on average, significantly better than the pessimistic study participants.

A previous study had already found that every additional point on the heart health scale reduced the risk of stroke by eight percent.

"Strategies that aim to improve mental health and encourage optimism in people can be a great way to improve heart health in the population," says Hernandez.

Inner posture that is gentle on the heart

The reason for this connection could be the lower level of stress that goes hand in hand with an optimistic attitude. This is not only directly healthier for the heart, it also increases the chance for a healthier lifestyle, which the optimists of the study actually display.

Cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death in Germany. More than every third death is the result of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other diseases of the cardiovascular system. Everyone can do a lot for their heart health. In addition to physical activity and a healthy diet and abstinence from tobacco, mental balance is also an important factor. (cf)

Tags:  anatomy therapies Diseases