A study of law students during midterms found that optimistic students maintained higher white blood cell counts than pessimistic ones. The speaker argues that cultivating optimism and gratitude may strengthen immune function.
Now, there are some very interesting studies linking optimism to better immune function. In one, first-year law students were studied during the stress of midterm exams. Now, those students who were characterized as optimistic based on a survey response maintained a higher number of white cells and therefore a stronger immune system compared with their more pessimistic classmates. So it's reasonable to expect that gratitude and optimism may be an important factor in maintaining our immune system.
