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| Four Seasons Hemet Herald | JUNE 2021 | 23 Healthy Living Does my outlook on my health really matter? "Curious about your health and your future? You can put yourself through a battery of medical tests, fill out stacks of questionnaires, and see every specialist in town. But for a simple and surprisingly reliable prediction, just ask yourself a simple question: How healthy do you feel? When it comes to health, your opinion definitely matters. That's what Duke University found when they asked almost 3,000 heart patients to classify their health as poor, fair, good, or very good. As reported in the journal Medical Care, those who chose "very good" were about 70 percent less likely to die within three years than those who answered "good." And they had three times the survival rate of those who claimed "poor" health. At first, such results may not seem surprising. After all, people who chose "poor" probably had good reason. But here's the astounding thing, in this study and many others, researchers did their best to adjust for age, smoking, activity levels, socioeconomic class, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, current diseases, and practically everything else that could affect a person's survival. Even with all of these factors removed from the equation, a person's opinion of his or her health still stands out as a key to longevity. Take a roomful of 60-year-olds with the same lifestyles and identical results from their last physicals, and that single question can tell you which ones are most likely to see 70. Here's another dramatic example of the power of perceptions. In a study of more than 5,000 people over the age of 65, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that a poor image of one's health - regardless of other risk factors - roughly doubled the risk of death within five years. In fact, a pessimistic outlook proved to be deadlier than congestive heart failure or smoking 50 or more packs of cigarettes every year." Healthy Living thought this was worth sharing. The Healthy Living group is back in The Lodge and very grateful for this time together. We meet every Wednesday at 9 am. Location may change so check our location at the front desk. If you have any questions about our program, please call Dave and Karen Tuvim at (626) 710-7163.