Get happy!

That’s the implied advice from a Carnegie Mellon study concluding that happy people are three times less likely to come down with a cold.

Researchers began by interviewing 300 healthy subjects to determine the emotional state of each individual. After subjects were determined to be “happy” or “not happy,” researchers squirted rhinovirus up their noses. (Rhinovirus is the virus that causes the common cold.)

The subjects were then tracked for five days with questionnaires to determine if cold symptoms were developing. And you already know how this turns out: those who scored at the bottom of the “not happy” scale were three times more likely to develop a cold as those at the top of the “happy” scale.

Okay. I have two questions.

1) How “happy” do you have to be to REMAIN happy after someone squirts rhinovirus up your nose?

2) Is it possible that the “happy” group came down with the very same symptoms as the “not happy” group, but minimized their conditions when questioned? Because, heck, they can’t help it! They’re happy!

This study might be on to something. Maybe the worst part of a cold isn’t the sniffles, the sore throat, the achy feeling, or the headache. Maybe the worst part is the whining!

Speaking only for myself, however – when I have a cold, I believe a little whining makes me feel better. Not HAPPY, mind you, but a little better.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Happy People get Fewer Colds” United Press International, 7/28/03, nlm.nih.gov