Pessimism increases the chances of a cancer patient to die earlier. A team of researchers from three universities in the US -- University of Pittsburg, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Georgia -- arrived at this conclusion after following up 238 cancer patients. These patients put on chemotherapy were tested for a link between pessimism and mortality. They found that a more pessimistic person was statistically more likely to die sooner than a less pessimistic patient with a similar prognosis. The mechanism involved in this is yet unclear, but researchers believe that pessimistic attitude affects adherence to a medical regimen or it affects the endocrine and immune system, or both.
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