Because pessimism can be a deadly thing, it's no surprise to learn the life-threatening health problems of children can also harm their parents.

This study is more unique than others for good reason: It's based on comparing the health of parents whose children were injured or killed in a fire at a New Year's Eve party in 2001 to a control group of adults who wasn't affected by the disaster at all.

Parents whose children were involved in that real world fire that took place in the Netherlands had a higher risk of developing hypertension over the next four years -- nearly 50 percent -- than patients whose children were safely out of harm's way.

By the way, treating blood pressure effectively has nothing at all to do with taking drugs, as it's easily tamed by making some simple lifestyle changes:

• Handle your emotions better by learning an energy psychology tool like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
• Optimize your levels of vitamin D.
• Lower your insulin levels by reducing, with the plan of eliminating, your intake of grains and sugars.