A Happy Heart
If you are having an issue deciding if the glass is half-full or half-empty, your heart would like you to choose the optimistic view.
For women over 50 optimism will lessen their chances of heart disease. Those women who saw life as a happy adventure had a 9% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to their most pessimistic counterparts.
In an article on CNN Dr. Hilary Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, explains that pessimism may be as bad as having high blood pressure -- a well-known heart risk factor -- when it comes to cardiovascular health.
It's the reduced level of stress that gives optimists a health boost. When dealing with problems they "cope with the problem head-on, and mobilize support to solve issues, more so than pessimists," the article explains.