Optimism has been linked to lower cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease death rates, lower rates of heart attack, slower progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis (blockages from plaque), better outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and fewer re-stenoses after stents and angioplasty in the coronary arteries.  Even risk factors are affected by optimism, as seen in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).  Those in the highest quartile of optimism were...