For immediate release: December 7, 2016 
 
 Boston, MA – Having an optimistic outlook on life—a general expectation that good things will happen—may help people live longer, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death—including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection—over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic. 
 
 The study appeared online December 7, 2016 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. 
 
 “While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience may also make a difference,” said Eric Kim, research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-lead author of the study. “Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges.” 
 
 The study also found that healthy behaviors only partially explain the link between optimism and reduced mortality risk. One other possibility is that higher optimism directly impacts our biological systems, Kim said. 
 
 The study analyzed data from 2004–2012 from 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-running study tracking women’s health via surveys every two years. They looked at participants’ levels of optimism and other factors that might play a role in how optimism may affect mortality risk, such as race, high blood pressure, diet, and physical activity. 
 
 The most optimistic women (the top quartile) had a nearly 30% lower risk of dying from any of the diseases analyzed in the study compared with the least optimistic women (the bottom quartile), the study found. The most optimistic women had a 16% lower risk of dying from cancer; 38% lower risk of dying from heart disease; 39% lower risk of dying from stroke; 38% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease; and 52% lower risk of dying from infection. 
 
 While other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of early death from cardiovascular problems, this was the first to find a link between optimism and reduced risk from other major causes. 
 
 “Previous studies have shown that optimism can be altered with relatively uncomplicated and low-cost interventions—even something as simple as having people write down and think about the best possible outcomes for various areas of their lives, such as careers or friendships,” said postdoctoral research fellow Kaitlin Hagan, co-lead author of the study. “Encouraging use of these interventions could be an innovative way to enhance health in the future.” 
 
 Other Harvard Chan School authors of the study included Francine Grodstein, professor, and Immaculata De Vivo, associate professor, both in the Department of Epidemiology; and Laura Kubzansky, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness. Harvard Medical School assistant professor Dawn DeMeo was also a co-author. 
 
 The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P01 CA87969, UM1 CA186107, T32 HL 098048). 
 
 “Optimism and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study,” Eric S. Kim, Kaitlin A. Hagan, Francine Grodstein; Dawn L. DeMeo, Immaculata De Vivo, Laura D. Kubzansky, American Journal of Epidemiology, online December 7, 2016, doi: 10.1093/aje/kww182 
 
 For more information: 
 
 Marge Dwyer 
 
 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 
 
 mhdwyer@hsph.harvard.edu 
 
 617.432.8416 
 
 Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. 
 
 Photo: iStock 
 
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 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health. 

 A Brighter Outlook Could Translate To A Longer Life 
 
 Enlarge this image Luciano Lozano/Getty Images Luciano Lozano/Getty Images 
 
 Older women who look on the bright side of life were less likely to die in the next several years than their peers who weren't as positive about the future. 
 
 The research, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is the latest to find an association between a positive sense of well-being and better health, though it's not yet clear whether one causes the other. 
 
 In this study, researchers used data from 70,021 women who were part of the long-running Nurses' Health Study, looking at their level of optimism as assessed by a brief, validated questionnaire in 2004. For example, they were asked to what degree they agreed with the statement "In uncertain times, I usually expect the best." Their average age was about 70 years old. Then the researchers tracked deaths among the women from 2006 to 2012. (That two-year lag was to avoid including women who were already seriously ill.) 
 
 They found that after controlling for factors including age, race, educational level and marital status, the women who were most optimistic were 29 percent less likely to die during the six-year study follow-up than the least optimistic. That reduced risk was seen in cancer (16 percent lower), heart disease (38 percent), stroke (39 percent), respiratory disease (37 percent) and infection (52 percent). 
 
 The researchers didn't see a difference in their results when they controlled for depression. When the researchers ran additional analyses controlling for existing health conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes and cancer, the risk of dying was 27 percent lower among the most optimistic women. When controlling for health behaviors like smoking and exercise: 14 percent lower. And when controlling for all those factors, the risk of dying was still 9 percent lower among the most optimistic women. 
 
 This study is significant because of its size, and because it digs into the effect of those potentially confounding variables, says Nancy Sin, a health psychologist at Penn State University who studies the psychosocial factors involved in heart health and aging and was not involved in the study. Other studies have also shown a relationship between optimism and physical health, particularly in cardiovascular health. 
 
 Optimism could conceivably lead to improved health outcomes through several mechanisms, says Eric Kim, an author of the study and research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. First, people who are more optimistic also tend to have healthier behaviors when it comes to diet, exercise and tobacco use. But the study shows that the relationship persists even when those behaviors are controlled for, suggesting something else is also going on. 
 
 It's also possible that more optimistic people cope better, says Kim. "When they face life challenges, they create contingency plans, plan for future challenges and accept what can't be changed," he says. 
 
 And finally, "optimism may directly impact biological function," says Kim, possibly through better immune function or lower levels of inflammation. 
 
 There are some short-term studies suggesting that optimism can be taught. But it's not yet clear whether there are easy techniques that can permanently change how hopeful someone is about the future. Nor is it known whether making someone more optimistic will also make them healthier. That would require a clinical trial. 
 
 Moreover, "not everyone wants to be optimistic," says Kim. "We should be sensitive to people's preferences." In addition, it's important to emphasize that optimism is only partly under our control. People have diseases for all sorts of reasons, many of which are not under their control no matter how optimistic they are, he says. 
 
 "It's important not to place any blame on patients," says Sin. She says it's important to understand exactly what it is about optimistic people that is potentially relevant to health — for example, perhaps they have better social relationships and support. 
 
 Katherine Hobson is a freelance health and science writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. She's on Twitter: @katherinehobson. 

 Women with an optimistic outlook on life may live longer, a new study finds. 
 
 Optimistic women in the study were less likely to die from five major causes of death over an eight-year period than women who were less optimistic, according to the study. 
 
 And although optimism has been linked in earlier studies to healthy behaviors such as eating a healthy diet and getting more exercise, the researchers noted that these behaviors only partially explained the link to a longer life. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy] 
 
 In other words, it's possible that optimism directly impacts our biological systems, Eric Kim, a research fellow in social behavioral sciences at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a co-lead author of the study, said in a statement. 
 
 In the study, which was published online today (Dec. 7) in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers looked at data on women who were enrolled in the ongoing Nurses' Health Study, which began in 1976. Every two years, the women in the study fill out questionnaires about their health. 
 
 The current analysis included data from 70,000 women who had responded to a 2004 questionnaire that assessed their levels of optimism. The average age of the women in 2004 was 70 , according to the study. 
 
 The researchers also obtained information from state records and the National Death Index, along with reports from family members, about the women within this group who had died between 2004 and 2012. Doctors reviewed death certificates to determine the cause of death, and for the five causes, the researchers looked at whether the women's risk of dying from that cause was linked with their levels of optimism. 
 
 The researchers found that the most optimistic women had an overall risk of dying during the study period from any of the five causes of death analyzed that was nearly 30 percent lower than that risk among the least optimistic women. 
 
 Optimism appeared to have the greatest effect on the risk of dying from an infection: The most optimistic women were 52 percent less likely to die from an infection, compared to the least optimistic women. In addition, the most optimistic women were 39 percent less likely to die from stroke, 38 percent less likely to die from heart disease and 38 percent less likely to die from a respiratory disease than the least optimistic women. [The Odds of Dying] 
 
 A smaller effect was observed for cancer deaths, with a 16 percent reduction in risk of dying for the most optimistic women compared to the least optimistic women. 
 
 The researchers noted that this is one of the first studies that identified a link between optimism and the risk of dying from either an infection or a respiratory disease. One plausible hypothesis for optimism's effect on the risk of dying from an infection is that optimism has been associated with better immune system functioning in previous studies. And for respiratory disease, an earlier study found a link between optimism levels and pulmonary function. 
 
 Indeed, previous research has suggested that optimism is associated with a number of aspects of a person's health, according to the study. For example, optimists are more likely to have healthier cholesterol levels and lower levels of inflammation. 
 
 A limitation of the study is the possibility that the findings reflect "reverse causation," or in other words, that women's underlying health conditions could influence how optimistic they are, the researchers wrote. In addition, the links between optimism and infection and respiratory disease "should be interpreted cautiously because of the novelty of the findings," they wrote. 
 
 Originally published on Live Science. 

 An optimistic outlook may be good for your health. 
 
 In 2004 and again in 2008, researchers used a well-validated questionnaire to rate 70,021 women on their optimism. The women were asked to indicate their degree of agreement with six statements (for example, “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best.”). 
 
 Researchers also collected information on educational and socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol consumption, cancer, hypertension and other diseases and behavioral characteristics. The women’s average age was 70 at the start of the project. 
 
 The study, in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found significant associations between increasing levels of optimism and decreasing risks of death from cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and infections. 
 
 The associations were particularly strong for cardiovascular disease. Those in the quarter with the highest optimism scores had a nearly 40 percent lower risk for heart disease and stroke than those in the lowest quarter, even after controlling for other health factors. The associations with cancer were also significant, but weaker.
– When asked about their secret to aging, the world's oldest people often bring up not sweating the small stuff. In fact, optimism is associated with greater personal happiness, but could it impart biological benefits as well? Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health suggest it's possible in a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. They analyzed data from more than 70,000 women between 2004 and 2012. Optimistic women, they found, are considerably less likely to die from a handful of diseases than their pessimistic counterparts, possibly in part because of reduced inflammation. "Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors," one researcher says. The study is not without flaws. For one, optimism may be calculated differently from one person to the next. And "reverse causation" could be at play, where people in better health are more likely to be optimistic, reports Live Science. But it's a large study, and the numbers are statistically significant. The most optimistic women were 52% less likely to die from an infection than the least optimistic, and roughly 38% less likely to die from stroke, heart disease, and respiratory disease. The effect was even seen in cancer, though with just a 16% reduction. The lead author tells the New York Times that studies in twins suggest optimism is 25% heritable, so it's 75% "under our own control," while an outside researcher warns NPR we should be careful not to blame patients. (Can one be overly positive?)