Optimism associated with lower risk of having stroke
July 21, 2011 in CardiologyA positive outlook on life might lower your risk of having a stroke, according to new research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In an observational study, a nationally representative group of 6,044 adults over age 50 rated their optimism levels on a 16-point scale. Each point increase in optimism corresponded to a 9 percent decrease in acute stroke risk over a two-year follow-up period.
"Our work suggests that people who expect the best things in life actively take steps to promote health," said Eric Kim, study lead author and a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Michigan.
Optimism is the expectation that more good things, rather than bad, will happen.
Previous research has shown that an optimistic attitude is associated with better heart health outcomes and enhanced immune-system functioning, among other positive effects.
The study is the first to discover a correlation between optimism and stroke. Previous research has shown that low pessimism and temporary positive emotions are linked to lower stroke risk.
Researchers analyzed self-reported stroke and psychological data from the ongoing Health and Retirement Study, collected between 2006 and 2008. Participants were stroke-free at the beginning of the study.
Researchers measured optimism levels with the modified Life Orientation Test-Revised, a widely used assessment tool in which participants rank their responses on a numeric scale.
The team used logistic regression analysis to establish the association between optimism and stroke and adjusted for factors that might affect stroke risk, including chronic illness, self-reported health and sociodemographic, behavioral, biological and psychological conditions.
"Optimism seems to have a swift impact on stroke," said Kim, noting that researchers followed participants for only two years.
The protective effect of optimism may primarily be due to behavioral choices that people make, such as taking vitamins, eating a healthy diet and exercising, researchers said.
However, some evidence suggests positive thinking might have a strictly biological impact as well.
Stroke is the No. 3 killer in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer, and a leading cause of disability.
Provided by
American Heart Association
-
Women have a poorer quality of life after a stroke than men, study reveals
Sep 28, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce risk of stroke, heart attack
May 02, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Incidence of stroke decreases over last 50 years
Dec 27, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
High triglycerides, other cholesterol raise risk of stroke
Dec 27, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Good physical function after age 40 tied to reduced risk of stroke
Dec 10, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
Work done by us on the spring
1 hour ago
-
Surface current density
3 hours ago
-
Work done on body moving in a circle
7 hours ago
-
Crest or Trough?
7 hours ago
-
Origin of magnetism
11 hours ago
-
Polarization vector of water molecule
14 hours ago
- More from Physics Forums - Classical Physics
More news stories
One-fifth of healthy middle-aged men have low-grade murmur
(HealthDay) -- More than one-fifth of healthy middle-aged men have a low-grade systolic heart murmur that confers a nearly five-fold higher risk of future aortic valve replacement (AVR), according to a study ...
Cardiology
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
New device allows pacemaker patients to safely undergo MRIs
For many, it's a medical conundrum: The very pacemaker keeping their heart in rhythm prevents them from undergoing an MRI to diagnose other ailments, because interaction between the two devices could prove deadly.
Cardiology
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
New study should end debate over magnesium treatment for preventing poor outcome after haemorrhagic stroke
An international randomised trial and meta-analysis published Online First in The Lancet should put an end to the debate about the use of intravenous magnesium sulphate to prevent poor outcomes after haemorrhagic stroke. The in ...
Cardiology
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Low vitamin D in diet increases stroke risk in Japanese-Americans
Japanese-American men who did not eat foods rich in vitamin D had a higher risk of stroke later in life, according to results of a 34-year study reported in Stroke, an American Heart Association journal.
Cardiology
22 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Clot buster seems to help up to 6 hours after stroke
(HealthDay) -- The largest study of its kind finds that stroke patients benefit from a clot-busting drug even six hours after a stroke, suggesting that the current recommended 4.5-hour limit could be expanded.
Cardiology
May 24, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
Pancreatectomy OK without downstaging from therapy
(HealthDay) -- Pancreatectomy improves median survival in pancreatic cancer patients even when presurgical neoadjuvant therapy does not lead to radiographic downstaging of tumors, according to a study published ...
Flesh-Eating bacteria no cause for panic, experts say
(HealthDay) -- Despite scary headlines by the score, most people don't have to fear that they'll be the next victim of the so-called flesh-eating bacteria disease, experts say.
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
(Medical Xpress) -- Regardless of an organism’s biological complexity, every encephalized animal continuously makes under-informed behavioral choices that can have serious consequences. Despite its ubiquity, ...
Cancer may require simpler genetic mutations than previously thought
Chromosomal deletions in DNA often involve just one of two gene copies inherited from either parent. But scientists haven't known how a deletion in one gene from one parent, called a "hemizygous" deletion, can contribute ...
Inherited DNA change explains overactive leukemia gene
A small inherited change in DNA is largely responsible for overactivating a gene linked to poor treatment response in people with acute leukemia.
Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
An estimated 3.5 million cancer patients around the globe are in severe pain from their disease, but many get no relief.