Stay happy to live long: Report

A five-year study has found that happiness can help people live longer and those with an optimist attitude have a 35 per cent reduced risk of dying early.

The study found the higher people rated their gratification and happiness, the healthier they are and longer they lived. Previous studies showed that a positive mood could reduce stress-related hormones and boost immune function, which leads to better health and longer life. This latest research is further evidence that a "glass half-full" attitude is good for health. This means optimist attitude keeps you happy and gives you strength to fight with your problems and helps in finding a solution to a problem intelligently. Optimist attitude always gives you a ray of hope and sends positive signals to your brain that everything will be fine.For the study, the researchers asked participants to rate their feelings of happiness over a day.
They questioned more than 3,800 people taking part in a long-running British study of ageing, to rate their feelings of happiness or anxiety four times daily. They followed them for five years, recording the number of deaths.