Behavior or Personality Traits Can Influence Health

This article is so good that I would like to pass it along . . . it is not just about how it affects our health. Our outlook greatly enhances or reduces the chances of being productive and happy . . . and we ALL want to be happy, right?

*It's all connected* IMHO

Here's the beginning of the article. The link to the entire article is at the bottom. It's really a good read, makes a lot of sense.

Tomorrow I'll post about myself and my progress or lack thereof. Let's face it, it ain't easy to always do the right thing. Pretty much my portions are really a lot smaller or if large, made of salad fixings. It's gonna take time, folks. :-( At least I'm not going backwards and pigging out :-)

7 Thoughts That Are Bad
For You
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.

-- Jeanna Bryner

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," Stephen 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.

Use this link to read all 7 impact-negative behaviors.

http://www.livescience.com/health/090911-7-bad-thoughts.html