Thumbs up: Why optimism may help you live longer

Optimistic people less likely to suffer a stroke

By
Roger Dobson

PUBLISHED:

21:00 GMT, 6 April 2013

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UPDATED:

21:00 GMT, 6 April 2013

We all like to feel needed. But new research suggests having a sense of purpose is good for our health, too.

In a study of 7,000 people, those with the strongest sense of direction in life were over 70 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke.

The researchers accounted for other aggravating factors such as blood pressure and alcohol use and believe the effect comes through regulating the immune system.

Happy days: Those with a strong sense of purpose in their lives are less likely to suffer a stroke

‘Maintaining a purpose in life not only increases quality of life but may improve physical health and increase longevity,’ says clinical psychologist Eric Kim, who led the study at the University of Michigan.

More than 150,000 people have a stroke each year in the UK.

It has long been thought that pursuing meaningful activity after retirement is important for physical and mental health – which often declines dramatically soon after retirement.

Thumbs up: A positive outlook on life can improve your health

But while past research focused on the detrimental effects of negative psychological traits, such as depression and anxiety, new research is investigating how positive traits, such as optimism, protect against illness.

In the recent study, men and women aged 50 and over were tracked for four to five years and completed psychological tests while researchers recorded strokes.

The results show that the higher someone’s sense of purpose, the lower their risk of a stroke.

Those with the greatest sense of purpose were 73 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke compared to those with the lowest.

Other research has shown that positive mood can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, also implicated in stroke.

‘This is significant as we have an ageing population and it helps show what behaviours inoculate people from getting ill,’ says Cary Cooper, professor of health psychology at Lancaster University.

‘Maybe retirement is not good for some.’