I was reading on fark about a study saying that optimism does not cure cancer, and the article linked was a little short, so I googled for more information. This report on another study talking about how optimism doesn't cure cancer talked about one study from 1989 that is often cited. I'm not saying that this really happens, but what prevents say, a self help book author from citing this study, and then citing other others that cite the same information and making a whole book out of it?

I mean, it's a tempting idea- our culture places a huge premium on optimism, and if it's good(as defined in our culture) wouldn't it be great if it was good for our health too? Something that is under our control, and not things that are really hard to control like whether cells have proliferated out of control and are using your bodies' own blood supply to grow. Basically we don't know how to cure cancer, and so it becomes so tempting to hope for more control over it. Also, see Susan Sontag's book Illness as Metaphor for a more intelligent view of this. While attitudes towards cancer have changed somewhat since the 70s, but it's still valuable.

Of course, the idea that optimism doesn't cure cancer is pretty intuitive- cancer kills you, not a shitty attitude. So remember folks, eat your veggies, exercise, and don't smoke, and don't eat stuff that has tons of carcinogens in it, and hopefully you won't have to worry about whether your attitude causes cancer or not.