"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. (Photo via Wikipedia Commons)

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 bio-behavioral 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, who expects to have an abstract completed in 2015.

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

How Algorithms Are Targeting Our Young Boys

Thanks to the Woke Math Movement, Some Freshmen at UCSD Can’t Do Grade-Level Math

Israel Charges Hamas Rearming, Stockpiling Weapons Abroad as White House Welcomes Israeli Hostages

Blue State Somalis Allegedly Sent Welfare Money To Al-Qaeda Ally Planning Another 9/11

DOJ Arrests US Citizens and Chinese Nationals for Exporting AI Tech to China

US Marshals Help Rescue 122 Missing Children Calling It 'Largest Rescue Mission in History'

Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit at Museum of the Bible Invites Nonbelievers to Witness 'Power' of Biblical Texts

Hamas Opens Fire on Israeli Troops, Intelligence Bombshell Reveals Threats to European Jews

Scathing Report Calls on US to Label Islamist Group Infiltrating All Aspects of American Life as Terrorist Organization

DOJ Charges Democrat Florida Congresswoman With Stealing $5 million in FEMA Funds

George Soros Confirmed as CCDH Funder; And 20+ Dark Money Backers Now Exposed

Homan: ICE Has Found 30,000 of the 300,000 Migrant Children Trafficked Under Biden

FBI's Dan Bongino Educates the Public on a Major Child Exploitation Ring, and How They're Working to Wipe It Out

President Trump Signs Epstein Files Transparency Act, Says the Truth About Epstein's Democrat Affiliates 'Will Soon be Revealed'

Alveda King: When Words Become Weapons; America's Dangerous Double Standard on Political Violence

Republicans Fire Back at 'Treasonous' Democrats Who Tell Military Members to 'Refuse Orders' by Trump, Hegseth

Victory for Parents: CA School District Drops Appeal after Forcing Fifth Grader to Teach Transgender Lesson to a Kindergartener

Federal Court Delivers a Big Blow to GOP Prospects for Holding the House

Hakeem Jeffries' Team Sought Donations from Epstein, Newly Released Email Shows [WATCH]

US Senate Passes Bill to Release Epstein Files, Heads to Trump's Desk