Many people worry about serious illnesses like heart disease, cancer, asthma, and diabetes.
These are all long-lasting diseases, known as chronic or non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In 2021, they caused about 75% of all deaths that were not linked to a pandemic.
These health problems can happen because of our genes, the environment we live in, or the way we live our lives. But now scientists are asking: Can being happy also protect us from getting sick?
A new study published in the journal *Frontiers in Medicine* looked at the link between happiness and health. The researchers wanted to see if happier people are always healthier and whether this link is simple or more complex.
The study was led by Professor Iulia Iuga from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia. Her team found that happiness only starts to improve health after reaching a certain level. They found that when people rated their happiness higher than 2.7 on a scale called the “Life Ladder,” their chances of dying from NCDs dropped.
The Life Ladder is a simple tool that asks people to rate their lives from 0 to 10. Zero means the worst life they can imagine, and 10 means the best. People pick a number to show where they think they are on that ladder.
A score of 2.7 is quite low. It means that a person or country is not doing well—just trying to get by. However, even at this low level, increasing happiness can begin to show some health improvements.
The researchers used information collected from 123 countries between 2006 and 2021. They gathered data from health agencies, global development reports, and public surveys.
They found that once a country’s average happiness score goes above 2.7, health starts to improve. For every 1% increase in happiness, the death rate from NCDs in people aged 30 to 70 drops by about 0.43%. This means fewer people die from long-term diseases when the overall happiness in a country goes up.
Interestingly, the study found no downside to being very happy. More happiness did not cause any health problems. However, if people’s happiness scores were below 2.7, small increases in happiness didn’t make a big difference. The study suggests that to really improve health, countries need to help people reach a basic level of well-being first.
Countries that scored higher on the happiness scale usually spent more on health care, had better social programs, and were more stable overall. During the study, the average happiness score across all countries was about 5.45. The lowest score was 2.18, and the highest was nearly 8.
Governments can raise happiness by supporting healthier lifestyles, reducing pollution, spending more on healthcare, and making life easier for people. The researchers say their findings can help create better health policies. If governments focus more on making people’s lives better, it could lead to healthier populations overall.
Still, there are some limits to the study. People rated their own happiness, which means the answers might not always be accurate. Cultural differences could also affect how people answer these questions. Future studies could use more detailed data, such as hospital records or information about disability, to get a clearer picture.
Even with these limits, this study shows that happiness is more than just a nice feeling. It can actually help people stay healthy. Professor Iuga says that knowing when happiness starts to improve health can help create better plans for public health. In other words, happiness could be one of the keys to a longer, healthier life.
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The study is published in Frontiers in Medicine.
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