By Ann McCracken
In a recent article from the American Heart Association Journal – Circulation : Heart failure, researchers have clearly tied up Optimistic attitude to life with reduced chance of heart failure.
According to the research team, over 80% of heart failure diagnoses are in people aged 65 years and over. Therefore, they wanted to look at how optimism affects the risk of heart failure in older patients – a relationship they say has not been studied previously.In collaboration with investigators from Harvard University, the researchers analysed the background information, health history and psychological data of 6,808 older adults who were a part of the Health and Retirement Study.
All participants were followed for 4 years, and researchers took into account certain factors that could impact subjects’ heart failure risk, such as health behaviours, chronic illnesses, biological and demographic factors. The investigators found that individuals who had higher levels of optimism had a 73% lower risk of heart failure over the study period, compared with those who were pessimistic.
I believe it is not just the above age group who benefit but everyone. In a couple of our courses we focus on adaptability, mental flexibility and optimistic thinking – all of which are factors in Emotional Intelligence. Such factors are key to sustaining healthy body chemicals/hormones and therefore key to good health.
This topic and other related subjects will be discussed at the Health @Work Summit 2014 in London on the 12 June. I look forward to seeing you there and hearing your opinions on this and other fascinating topics.
- 6 myths about mental health and the truth behind them - 13 April 2016
- Healthy business – part two – a positive attitude - 12 February 2016
- Healthy business 2016 – let’s share ideas - 12 January 2016
- Are you flexible? - 4 November 2015
- Stress risk assessment – the helpful insight into your organisation - 20 October 2015
- Support your middle managers - 2 September 2015
- Cortisol – the stress hormone - 24 June 2015
- What is your definition of mental health? - 11 May 2015
- Mental ill health in the workplace - 13 April 2015
- Germanwings air disaster not just about one employee’s mental health - 31 March 2015