Leading a healthy lifestyle, which include eating a balanced diet and being physically active, can control or delay health issues associated with aging, and help you live longer. Besides healthy lifestyles, you should learn to think positive to increase your life expectancy. Why are we saying so? A new study has found higher levels of optimism associated with longer lifespan and living beyond age 90 in women across racial and ethnic groups.
The study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health was published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
"A lot of previous work has focused on deficits or risk factors that increase the risks for diseases and premature death. Our findings suggest that there's value to focusing on positive psychological factors, like optimism, as possible new ways of promoting longevity and healthy aging across diverse groups," said Hayami Koga, a PhD candidate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study, as quoted by Science Daily.
A previous study by the same research group had found optimism associated with a longer lifespan and exceptional longevity, living beyond 85 years of age. But the study participants included mostly white populations. This time Koga and her colleagues broadened the participant pool by including women from across racial and ethnic groups, who are known to have higher mortality rates than white populations.
For the current study, the researchers surveyed 159,255 women, which included postmenopausal women in the U.S. The women, who were enrolled at ages 50-79 from 1993 to 1998, were followed for up to 26 years.
Results of the analysis of the data and survey responses showed that the most optimistic participants were likely to have a 5.4 per cent longer lifespan and a 10 per cent greater likelihood of living beyond 90 years than who were the least optimistic.
No interaction was found between optimism and any categories of race and ethnicity. Moreover, the researchers said that lifestyle factors, such as regular exercise and healthy eating, accounted for less than a quarter of the optimism-lifespan association. This indicates that other factors may be at play.
Most of us tend to focus on the negative risk factors that affect our health. Koga emphasised the importance of focusing on positive resources such as optimism that may be beneficial to our health.
