Optimism, Health and Longevity

In order to ascertain whether optimistic people have longer life spans than their pessimistic counterparts, a team of researchers from the Netherlands interviewed approximately 1,000 men and women between the ages of 65 and 85 about health, self-respect, morale, optimism and relationships. The study, which was led by Erik Giltay, M.D., Ph.D, of the Psychiatric Center GGZ Delfland, in Delft, included two key questions regarding optimism: “Do you often feel like life is full of promise,” and “Do you still have many goals to strive for?”

Answering yes to those questions revealed a sense of optimism. During the nine-year follow-up period, Dr. Giltay and his colleagues found that participants who had reported higher levels of optimism were 55 percent less likely to die from any cause and 23 percent were less likely to die from a heart-related illness compared to the pessimistic group.

Another study, led by Dr. Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh, found similar results. The researchers used data from the Women’s Health Initiative, an ongoing government study of more than 100,000 women over age 50 that began in 1994. Participants completed a standard questionnaire that measured optimistic tendencies based on their responses to statements like “In uncertain times, I expect the worst.” Their results showed that eight years into the study, women who scored the highest in optimism were 14 percent more likely to be alive than those with the lowest, most pessimistic scores, with pessimists more likely to have died from any cause, including heart disease and cancer. In addition, pessimistic black women were 33 percent more likely to have died after eight years than optimistic black women, while white pessimists were only 13 percent more likely to have died than their optimistic counterparts.

As Dr. Tindle notes, pessimistic women tended to agree with statements like, “I’ve often had to take orders from someone who didn’t know as much as I did” or “It’s safest to trust nobody.” “Taking into account income, education, health behaviors like controlling blood pressure and whether or not you are physically active, whether or not you drink or smoke, we still see optimists with a decreased risk of death compared to pessimists,” she says.

Although the exact reasons behind the correlation are not known, Dr. Tindle suggests two key explanations that she is hoping to validate in clinical trials: Optimistic people tend to have more friends and a larger social network on which they can rely during crises, and they can better handle stress, a risk factor associated with high blood pressure, heart disease and early death in previous studies.

—Dr. Bob Goldman
www.WorldHealth.net

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Dr. Robert M. Goldman MD, PhD, DO, FAASP has spearheaded the development of numerous international medical organizations and corporations. Dr. Goldman has served as a Senior Fellow at the Lincoln Filene Center, Tufts University; as an Affiliate at the Philosophy of Education Research Center, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, He is Clinical Consultant, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea Medical University; and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Central America Health Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Goldman holds the positions of Visiting Professor, Udayana University School of Medicine, Indonesia; Visiting Professor, Huazhong University of Science & Technology Tong Ji Medical School, China; Visiting Professor, The Wuhan Institute of Science & Technology, China; Visiting Professor at Hainan Medical College, China; and Visiting Professor, School of Anti-Aging, Aesthetics and Regenerative Medicine, UCSI University, Malaysia. Dr. Goldman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Sports Physicians and a Board Diplomat in Sports Medicine and Board Certified in Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Goldman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Sports Physicians and a Board Diplomat in Sports Medicine and Board Certified in Anti-Aging Medicine. He has overseen cooperative research agreement development programs in conjunction with such prominent institutions as the American National Red Cross, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, and the FDA’s Center for Devices & Radiological Health.

Dr Goldman was awarded the 2012 LifeTime Achievement Award in Medicine &Science. Dr. Goldman is the recipient of the ‘Gold Medal for Science, the Grand Prize for Medicine, the Humanitarian Award, and the Business Development Award. He received honors from Minister of Sports and government Health officials of numerous nations. In 2001, Excellency Juan Antonio Samaranch awarded Dr. Goldman the International Olympic Committee Tribute Diploma for contributions to the development of sport & Olympism.

In addition, Dr. Goldman is a black belt in karate, Chinese weapons expert, and world champion athlete with over 20 world strength records, he has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some of his past performance records include 13,500 consecutive situps and 321 consecutive handstand pushups. Dr. Goldman was an All-College athlete in four sports, a three time winner of the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Physical Fitness Award, was voted Athlete of the Year, was the recipient of the Champions Award, and was inducted into the World Hall of Fame of Physical Fitness. Dr. Goldman was awarded the Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Goldman is Chairman of the International Medical Commission overseeing sports medicine committees in over 184 nations. He has served as a Special Advisor to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports. He is founder and international President Emeritis of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the cofounder and Chairman of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). Dr. Goldman visits an average of 20 countries annually to promote brain research and sports medicine programs.