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Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience Senior Writer
LiveScience.com jeanna Bryner
livescience Senior Writer
livescience.com Sat Sep 12, 10:56 am ET
Our personalities do more for us than determine our social circles. Temperament
can impact a person's physical health.
"The idea that behavior or personality traits can influence health is one
that's been around for a long time. We're just now getting a handle on to what
extent they do," said Stephen Boyle of Duke University Medical Center in North
Carolina.
From those with a chill demeanor to the completely frazzled types, mental
factors are ultimately tied to physical health. And while a highly neurotic
person might deteriorate more quickly than others, not every character trait
will kill you. Some might even boost lifetimes.
No. 7: Cynicism
Cynics who tend to be suspicious and mistrustful of others, a character trait
that scientists refer to as hostility, may have an increased likelihood of
developing heart disease. "These aren't necessarily hot-headed people, but
people who are more likely to read into people's behavior as some hostile
motive," Boyle said during a telephone interview.
In a study of more than 300 Vietnam veterans who were healthy at the study
start, Boyle found that those who scored high on measures of hostility were
about 25 percent more likely to develop heart disease.
Boyle and his colleagues think that hostile individuals might experience more
stress, which can cause spikes in an immune-system protein called C3 that has
been linked with various diseases, including diabetes. In fact, the
participants with higher scores on hostility showed an increase in these
proteins while the non-hostile men showed no such increase.
No. 6: Lack of meaning
If you lack a sense of purpose, your stay on Earth could be truncated. A study
involving more than 1,200 elderly participants who didn't have dementia at the
study's start found that those who indicated having a high purpose in life were
about half as likely to die over the study period, which lasted up to five
years. The results, published in the June 15 issue of the journal Psychosomatic
Medicine, held regardless of a person's age, sex, education and race, along
with level of depression and neuroticism.
"Persons with high purpose readily derive meaning from and make sense of the
events of their lives, and likely engage in behaviors and activities that they
deem important," said study researcher Patricia Boyle of the Rush Alzheimer's
Disease Center in Chicago.
Some other research has suggested that people with a higher sense of purpose
may have different levels of stress hormones, better heart health or improved
immune systems, though more research is needed to firm up any of these
biological mechanisms, she said.
The opposite also holds: "The findings from our study suggested that people who
no longer set and work actively toward goals or enjoy their day-to-day
activities (how they spend their time) are those with greater mortality risk,"
Boyle told LiveScience.
No. 5: Fretting
People who are highly neurotic - constantly worried and anxious, and prone to
depression - die sooner on average than their chill counterparts. And a
recently reported study of nearly 1,800 men followed over a 30-year period
suggests that's partly because neurotics are also more likely to smoke. Perhaps
having a cigarette eases anxiety, said study researcher Daniel Mroczek of
Purdue University in Indiana, adding that such a short-term payoff might not be
worth it if it kills you down the line.
No. 4: Lack of self-control
Late for appointments? Can't keep your desk organized? No self-control? These
seeming benign qualities could take a toll on your health.
A review of more than 20 studies and nearly 9,000 participants revealed people
who are conscientious - organized, self-disciplined, as opposed to impulsive -
live two to four years longer than others. Study researcher Howard S. Friedman
of the University of California, Riverside suspects the boost in lifetime can
be attributed partly to the fact that highly conscientious individuals are less
likely to smoke or drink to excess, and live more stable and less stressful
lives. The study is detailed in a 2008 issue of the journal Health Psychology.
No. 3: Anxiety
The jitters can put a strain on your noggin, research suggests. Compared with
the highly frazzled, Individuals with a mellow demeanor who are outgoing may be
less likely to develop dementia, which can be caused by Alzheimer's disease and
other illnesses. The claim is based on a study that followed more than 500
elderly individuals for five years. Among the outgoing extroverts, dementia
risk was 50 percent lower for participants who were calm compared with those
who were prone to distress.
No. 2: Gloom and doom
The gloomy, inhibited person is not just at a disadvantage socially, but also
physically.
A preliminary study of more than 180 patients suffering from peripheral
arterial disease (plaque buildup in the arteries) showed participants with
so-called type D, or distressed, personality, had an increased odds of dying
sooner than other people. Type-D people are more likely to experience negative
emotions while at the same time hold in their feelings.
The researchers, who detail their work in the August issue of the journal
Archives of Surgery, suggest the personality type is linked with the body's
immune system as well as stress response system.
No. 1: Stress
Whatever you do, don't let this list worry you! Research is showing that
prolonged stress can be deadly, and if it doesn't do you in, workplace stress
can increase your chances of heart disease, flu virus, metabolic syndrome and
having high blood pressure.
A study of nearly 700 Israeli workers found that those who experienced job
burnout (when work stress becomes unmanageable) were nearly twice as likely to
develop type 2 diabetes, in which a person's body becomes resistant to the
sugar-regulating hormone called insulin.
And while a job promotion might boost your income, it also stresses you out.
British researchers recently found that when people get promoted, they suffer
on average about 10 percent more mental strain and are less likely to find time
to go to the doctor.