Don't worry, be happy
Positive feelings help prevent growing frail
By Elizabeth Querna

Whether people age into frail seniors or keep their agility depends on diet, genetics, and overall health. Now, new research from the University of Texas at Galveston suggests that a person's level of happiness might play a role, as well.

What the researchers wanted to know: Does an overall level of happiness help protect people from growing frail as they age?

What they did: The researchers studied more than 1,500 elderly Mexican-Americans living in the Southwest. Participants answered questions about how weak they felt and how hard physical tasks were for them and about how happy they were. The researchers also measured the patients' frailty with a timed 8-foot-long walk and tests to measure grip strength. Participants returned for follow-up interviews after two, five, and seven years at which they answered similar questions and retook the same tests.

What they found: People who were happier were slightly less likely to become frail as they aged than were people who said they felt they were not as well off as others or had less hope for the future. About 8 percent of the study participants went from being classified as nonfrail to frail over the seven years of the study. Age at the beginning of the study, gender, years of schooling, and previous medical conditions did not reduce the risk of becoming frail—happiness was the only significant predictor.

What it means to you: Positive emotions have already been shown to speed recovery from serious disease and reduce the risk of some health catastrophes, such as heart attacks and strokes. Now, the power of positive thinking could keep you agile as you age. Family and community support, stress reduction, and dealing with depressing thoughts or situations are all ways to improve your mood—and your health, it appears.

Caveats: This study was done on Mexican-Americans, so may not apply to the population as a whole. Similar studies done on white and black Americans have found about the same rates of frailty, so the effect of happiness is probably similar for other people, too, the authors wrote. In addition, the survey used only four questions to measure happiness, so it may not have been completely accurate.