Growing old happily adds longevity, study finds
GROWING OLD happily can lead to a longer life, new research has shown.
A five-year study of almost 4,000 middle-aged and elderly people found those who felt the most positive during the course of a single day tended to live longest.
Overall, the happiest and most content older people had a 35 per cent reduced risk of dying compared with the least cheerful. The scientists took account of factors such as age, gender, depression, health and lifestyle that might have influenced the results.
A total of 3,853 individuals aged 52-79 were recruited for the research, part of a long-running investigation called the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Each was asked to rate his or her feelings of happiness, contentedness and excitement at four timed “moments” over the course of one day. These would then be scored. Researchers then monitored participants for five years, noting how many died during this time. Results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Higher scores were seen to coincide with a gradual increase in lifespan. People in the bottom third of the ratings had a death rate of 7.3 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent for those in the middle bracket and 3.6 per cent at the top. Initially, the most positive people seemed 50 per cent less likely to die. This figure was later reduced to 35 per cent.
The authors, led by Prof Andrew Steptoe from University College London, were unable to say whether happiness actually extended lifespan or was a marker for other factors that helped people live longer.
Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/1101/1224306841007.html
October 31, 2011|By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / for the Booster Shots blog
Yet another study suggests that happiness is good for your health.
Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported their results Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.
Andrew Steptoe and Jane Wardle examined data collected in a single day by the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a large survey in England. A subset of 3,853 people, ages 52 to 79, were asked to record the extent to which they felt happy, excited, content, worried, anxious and fearful on a 1 to 4 scale at four times during the day: upon waking, 30 minutes after waking, at 7 p.m. and again upon going to bed.
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Happy people have lower death rate, study finds
In a study of older people in England, happy people were less likely to die… (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)
Yet another study suggests that happiness is good for your health.
Epidemiologists at University College, London, reported their results Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.
Andrew Steptoe and Jane Wardle examined data collected in a single day by the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a large survey in England. A subset of 3,853 people, ages 52 to 79, were asked to record the extent to which they felt happy, excited, content, worried, anxious and fearful on a 1 to 4 scale at four times during the day: upon waking, 30 minutes after waking, at 7 p.m. and again upon going to bed.
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