Happy people catch fewer colds

[Budlite74]

Happy people catch fewer colds
Cheery types are blessed with fewer symptoms even when they do get sick

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15654801/wid/11915773/

Happy people are healthier people, research suggests.

People who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to catch colds and report fewer symptoms of the illness when they are under the weather.

The new finding held true regardless of personality traits such as optimism, extraversion and self-esteem. A person’s age, race, gender, education and body mass also did not make a difference.

Researchers interviewed 193 volunteers, aged 21 to 55, over several weeks to assess their moods and overall emotional states, and then infected them with either a rhinovirus, known to cause the common cold, or an influenza virus, responsible for the basic flu.

The volunteers were then quarantined to see if they came down with a cold or the flu. While the study found happiness is associated with boosted health, it suggests the opposite might not be true.

People who reported more negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety and anger, were not any more likely to catch colds than normal controls, the study found.
The study, led by psychologist Stephen Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University, will be detailed online in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

© 2006 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

[USNET321]

so that why i'm alway sick lately......... :(

[Sexybeast777]

I haven't been sick in over 2 years, I don't know if it means I'm ''happy'', it could just be high testosterone levels, or all those vitamins I take, I also believe is mental power, I tell myself to not get sick, and I don't get sick, even if everyone else in my family is sneezing on my face, telling me ''you'll be next'' I'm like ''I don't think so'', and surprisingly, I don't get sick at all...lmfao!

[GuiYoM]

I guess the brain secret some sort of enzyme that depressing people doesn't have.

[floridaguy]

I rarely get sick and I'm convinced it's because I've always gotten 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, no matter what!