PLUCKINESS can’t help you defeat cancer after all.
A Scottish team looked at 26 studies on whether a patient’s outlook affects survival. Ten of the studies examined the widely held belief that “fighting spirit” can help people live longer. Another 12 examined the opposite – whether people died sooner if their outlook was pessimistic.
Mark Petticrew’s team at the Medical Research Council’s Public Health Services Unit in Glasgow concluded that neither affects the final outcome (BMJ, vol 325, p 1066).
But Petticrew still urges people to stay optimistic. “There are lots of reasons to have a positive mental attitude other…
