You would think that happier people live longer than miserable folk, however a new complementary medicine research study has reported this is a fallacy in women aged 50 to 69 years.
The study which was published in the Lancet followed 715,000 British women, aged 50 to 69, from 1996 to 2012. During the study, 4% (31, 531) of participants died. Previous studies have linked happiness to longevity but these researchers now say there’s no such scientific connection.
“It’s such a common belief that stress and unhappiness causes death and disease but it’s actually the other way around,” said Professor Richard Peto from University of Oxford, who was one of the study’s authors.
“People should focus on the real issues that shorten their lives, like smoking and obesity.”
It is important to note that there will be future research conducted that will report the contrary. Furthermore, science has yet to determine how to measure happiness, and surely quality of life is an important factor to take into consideration. However, Professor Peto warning that poor lifestyle choices can be detrimental; therefore lifestyle advice is pivotal to good health.
So in the interim it is important that lifestyle advice focuses on preventative.
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