Using
the American Heart Association's criteria, a study of 5,000 adults found that
the most optimistic people had twice the odds of being in ideal cardiovascular
health as their pessimistic counterparts.
People who have upbeat
outlooks on life have significantly better cardiovascular health, suggests a
new study that examined associations between optimism and heart health in more
than 5,100 adults.
"Individuals with the highest levels of optimism have twice the
odds of being in ideal cardiovascular health compared to their more pessimistic
counterparts," said lead author Rosalba Hernandez, a professor of social
work at the University
of Illinois. "This
association remains significant, even after adjusting for socio-demographic
characteristics and poor mental health."
Participants' cardiovascular health was assessed using seven metrics:
blood pressure, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose and serum cholesterol
levels, dietary intake, physical activity and tobacco use -- the same metrics
used by the American Heart Association to define heart health and being
targeted by the AHA in its Life's Simple 7 public awareness campaign.
In accordance with AHA's heart-health criteria, the researchers
allocated 0, 1 or 2 points -- representing poor, intermediate and ideal scores,
respectively -- to participants on each of the seven health metrics, which were
then summed to arrive at a total cardiovascular health score. Participants'
total health scores ranged from 0 to 14, with a higher total score indicative
of better health.
The participants, who ranged in age from 45-84, also completed surveys
that assessed their mental health, levels of optimism, and physical health,
based upon self-reported extant medical diagnoses of arthritis, liver and
kidney disease.
Individuals' total health scores increased in tandem with their levels
of optimism. People who were the most optimistic were 50 and 76 percent more
likely to have total health scores in the intermediate or ideal ranges,
respectively.
The association between optimism and cardiovascular health was even
stronger when socio-demographic characteristics such as age, race and
ethnicity, income and education status were factored in. People who were the
most optimistic were twice as likely to have ideal cardiovascular health, and
55 percent more likely to have a total health score in the intermediate range,
the researchers found.
Optimists had significantly better blood sugar and total cholesterol
levels than their counterparts. They also were more physically active, had
healthier body mass indexes and were less likely to smoke, according to a paper
on the research that appears in the January/February 2015 issue of Health
Behavior and Policy
Review.
The findings may be of clinical significance, given that a 2013 study
indicated that a one-point increase in an individual's total-health score on
the LS7 was associated with an 8 percent reduction in their risk of stroke,
Hernandez said.
"At the population level, even this moderate difference in
cardiovascular health translates into a significant reduction in death
rates," Hernandez said. "This evidence, which is hypothesized to
occur through a biobehavioral mechanism, suggests that prevention strategies
that target modification of psychological well-being -- e.g., optimism -- may
be a potential avenue for AHA to reach its goal of improving Americans'
cardiovascular health by 20 percent before 2020."
Believed to be the first study to examine the association of optimism
and cardiovascular health in a large, ethnically and racially diverse
population, the sample for the current study was 38 percent white, 28 percent
African-American, 22 percent Hispanic/Latino and 12 percent Chinese.
Data for the study were derived from the Multi-Ethnic Study of
Atherosclerosis, an ongoing examination of subclinical cardiovascular disease
that includes 6,000 people from six U.S. regions, including Baltimore, Chicago,
Forsyth County in North Carolina, and Los Angeles County.
Begun in July 2000, MESA
followed participants for 11 years, collecting data every 18 months to two
years. Hernandez, who is an affiliated investigator on MESA, is leading a team
in conducting prospective analyses on the associations found between optimism
and heart health.
"We now have available data to examine optimism at baseline and
cardiovascular health a decade later," said Hernandez.
Journal Reference:
Rosalba Hernandez, Kiarri N. Kershaw, Juned Siddique, Julia K.
Boehm, Laura D. Kubzansky, Ana Diez-Roux, Hongyan Ning, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones. Optimism and Cardiovascular Health:
Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).Health Behavior and Policy Review,
2015; 2 (1): 62 DOI: 10.14485/HBPR.2.1.6
Have
a nice and healthy day!
Smile…
Natalia
Levis-Fox