Contrary to popular belief, happiness doesn’t buy yo
u a longer life. The bad news comes to you from researchers at the University of Oxford, where epidemiologists followed one million middle-aged women for 10 years, surveying them about their degree of happiness and their general health–blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, etc. The New York Times reports that when all of the information was analyzed statistically, unhappiness and stress were not associated with an increased risk of death. The Times reports that the results made many medical experts unhappy, with critics arguing that such “self-assessment” surveys are unreliable and that the very concept of happiness is too “squishy” to be measured accurately. All of the experts, happy and unhappy, should live equally long lives.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Monday, April 21, 2025
It’s the old saw, “it’s not the years in your life it’s the life in your years.” Happy people may not live longer, but I would rather go out with a smile.