Optimists have less heart disease, study says

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Updated: June 26, 2011 2:19AM

A 10-year study of 1,739 Canadian adults finds that having a positive outlook on life can reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack by as much as 22 percent.

The study compared people who tend to express positive emotions with people who tend to express negative emotions. It concluded that happier people are far less likely to develop heart disease, and that this protection extends to generally positive people who may feel depressed at times, if the depression is fleeting.

Lead researcher Karina Davidson of Columbia University Medical Center speculates that these results may be the result of several factors. Happier people probably tend to get more sleep, are less inclined to smoke and they exercise more often, all of which leads to lower heart rates.