Do you want to live longer? How about be healthier or have less pain and more energy? Stupid questions, right? Pretty much everyone wants to live longer and better, and most people are hoping that future scientific and technological breakthroughs will make it possible.
And why not? Science and technology are amazing. There is no doubt that advancements in these fields have made life much both easier and better.
However, there are many aspects of health and happiness that science and technology can NOT help. A perfect example can be found in the results of a new study done by researchers from the Princeton University, Stony Brook University, and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Recently published in The Lancet, the study followed 9,050 participants and measured how their sense of wellbeing affected their longevity.
Questionnaires measured the participants’ sense of self-control, feeling that what they do is worthwhile, and their sense of purpose in life.
RESULTS: According to Science Daily: “Over the next eight and a half years, 9% of people in the highest wellbeing category had died, compared with 29% in the lowest category. Once all the other factors had been taken into account, people with the highest wellbeing were 30% less likely to die over the study period, living on average two years longer than those in the lowest wellbeing group.”
One researcher stated, “We have previously found that happiness is associated with a lower risk of death… These analyses show that the meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival. We cannot be sure that higher wellbeing necessarily causes lower risk of death, since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing wellbeing could help to improve physical health. There are several biological mechanisms that may link wellbeing to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure. Further research is now needed to see if such changes might contribute to the links between wellbeing and life expectancy in older people.”
When it comes to your mind (brain), there are quite a few studies showing how mental conditions can affect your health. If the mind can have a major impact on health, then chances are it can also impact your lifespan.
One would not be going out on a limb to say (holding all other factors constant) the person who thinks positively and has a great mental outlook will most likely be healthier and live longer than someone who always has a negative outlook.
It’s also not a stretch to say stress kills. It exhausts you and prematurely ages you. It can lead to many illnesses. Clearly, stress is a product of our thought processes. Stress and its negative effects are completely controlled by YOU and your reactions to any and all situations.
Learning how to react to situations to limit stress can not only improve how you look and feel, but can also benefit your overall health.
This is in stark contrast to looking for solutions from advancements in science and technology.
Once again, breakthroughs in science and technology are wonderful and save lives, but it is NOT the answer to having a negative mental attitude that poisons your body and causes sickness and disease in the first place.
Pain Relief Chiropractic 
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