Palestinian Factions to Sign Deal in Cairo

Officials say Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas will sign a unity agreement in Cairo Wednesday to end the divide that has left Parift goldlestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with rival governments.

Officials say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will attend a ceremony Wednesday markintera goldg the signing. Meshaal is already in Cairo, and Abbas is due to arrive on Tuesday.

The agreement between the Palestinian factions calls for the formation of an interim government followed by presidential and legislative elections within a year.

A top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip said Monday that the prime minister of the new unity government should come from Gaza, notrift platinum the West Bank.

The deal was sharply criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week because Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group.

He said Abbas must choose "peace with Israel or peace with Hamas." He added: "There is no possibility for peace with both."

A Young Girl and Her Diary

During World War II in Europe, the Nazis of Germany tried to destroy the Jewish people and their culture. The Nazis had taken control of many countries, including the Netherlands. In the city of Amsterdam, the Nazi threat meant that rift gold a young Jewish girl and her family had to spend two years in hiding. Anne Frank’s moving diary of those years in hiding has since become a classic book.

Halfway through the war, the Nazis began sending Jews to prison camps. So in July 1942, Anne’s family went into hiding in the back-room office and warehouse of Anne’s father’s business. Four other Jews hid with them in the small space,tera gold and non-Jewish friends smuggled food and other supplies to them. Anne was 13 when she went into hiding. In her diary, she describes daily life in the secret rooms. She also writes about her own dreams and feelings while growing up in hiding.

The family never once left their hideout until the Nazi police discovered them in August 1944. Then the Frank family was moved to the concentration camp at Auschwitz in Poland, where Anne’s mother died in 1945. Anne and her sister wererift platinum sent to another camp, Bergen-Belsen, where they both died of typhus. Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only family member who survived.

Friends had found Anne’s diary in the hiding space. After the war, they gave it to her father, and he published it in 1947. Since then, Anne’s story of courage and hope has inspired millions of readers. Today, the Frank family’s hiding place in Amsterdam is a museum.

Palestinians Sign Unity Deal in Cairo

The leaders of the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have agreed to reconcile, under a deal criticized by Israel.

The reconciliation rift gold deal aims to unify the rival Palestinian governments with an interim government leading to elections next year. After a brief, last minute delay, the ceremony got underway with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal and foreign dignitaries in attendance.

While the planned caretaker government has been described by Fatah officials as an independent body of technocrats,tera gold Meshaal struck a more political tone.

The Hamas leader told the gathering that "the black page of division" was behind them, and that the only real battle is with "the occupier" - a reference to Israel.

Israel has rift platinum condemned the deal, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday saying it is "a tremendous blow to peace and a great victory for terrorism,"

Netanyahu has urged Abbas to choose "peace with Israel" over any deal with Hamas - considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

Hamas, which does not recognize Israel, is said to be willing to honor an unofficial truce.

But Meshaal's statement, as well as continued attacks from Gaza on Israel, are likely to undermine any Israeli confidence in that position.

Scientists Hail Possible Type 1 Diabetes Cure

Type 1 diabetes may eventually be transformed into a much less serious condition without symptoms or an insulin dependency, according to new findings.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center learned that eliminating a protein in mice called glucagon, Rift Goldproduced by the pancreas, caused insulin to become irrelevant and stopped it from triggering diabetes or other conditions.

Glucagon is responsible for high blood sugar in type 1 diabetes sufferers, but it prevents blood sugar from getting too low in healthy people.

"We've all been brought up to think insulin is the all-powerful hormone without which life is impossible, but that isn't the case," the study's senior author Dr. Roger Unger,RIFT Platinum professor of internal medicine, said in a statement. "If diabetes is defined as restoration of glucose homeostasis to normal, then this treatment can perhaps be considered very close to a 'cure.' "

But Megan Fendt of the Gerald J. Friedman Diabetes Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center cautioned against making too much of the findings. For one, it has long been known that glucagon and insulin work against each other, since the former is released when blood sugar is too low and the latter when it's too high.rift gold And the research has shortcomings because it was done on mice, she added.

"Having success with a study with animals does not mean that is going to translate into success in the human population," she told AOL Health. "Take it with a grain of salt. It doesn't mean a cure exists right now. ... It's not something we haven't known before. The whole idea of it is not incredibly groundbreaking."

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the pancreas, destroying its islet cells that produce insulin. Because they have a total insulin deficiency,RIFT Platinum patients with the disease need multiple insulin injections a day to survive and must follow a strict diet.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body does not make enough insulin and doesn't detect it properly. Insulin shots usually aren't necessary until the illness becomes more advanced.

In type 1 diabetes, which afflicts about a million Americans, insulin alone is unable to restore the body's normal tolerance to glucose, or sugar. Getting rid of glucagon can do that, the authors say. The protein is released in healthy people when glucose levels in the blood become too low.

In people with diabetes who don't have insulin, the amount of glucagon is excessively high, which can lead the liver to release too much glucose into the blood. That process is blocked by insulin, which helps cells strip the bloodstream of sugar.

The researchers studied mice that had been genetically wired to have faulty glucagon receptors and gave them an oral glucose tolerance test -- which can be used to diagnose diabetes.

The animals without working glucagon receptors with normal insulin production responded normally to the test and didn't develop diabetes.

"These findings suggest that if there is no glucagon, TERA Goldit doesn't matter if you don't have insulin," Unger said of the Diabetes study.

Unger said insulin is still crucial for proper development, but becomes less critical later in life.

"This does not mean insulin is unimportant. It is essential for normal growth and development from neonatal to adulthood," Unger explained. "But in adulthood, at least with respect to glucose metabolism, the role of insulin is to control glucagon. And if you don't have glucagon, then you don't need insulin."

Fendt said the research lays the groundwork for finding a better treatment for type 1 diabetes.

"It's a good start -- the fact that they were able to shut off the glucagon in mice is a step forward -- but we know that glucagon works against insulin already," she told AOL Health.

The paper's lead author Dr. Young Lee hopes the research will ultimately lead to a cure for diabetes in humans.

"Hopefully, these findings will someday help those with type 1 diabetes," Lee said in a statement. "If we can find a way to block the actions of glucagon in humans, then maybe we can minimize the need for insulin therapy."

Want to Lose Weight? Turn Your Thermostat Down

If you're among the many Americans who have been enduring weeks of bitter cold and snowstorms, here's a thought that may help you get through the winter a little easier: increasing exposure to cold temperatures could increase weight loss.

A recently published article in Obesity Reviews presents evidence gathered from Dr.Rift Gold Fiona Johnson of the University College London and her colleagues supporting the theory that higher indoor temperatures and reduced exposure to cold may be a contributor to rising obesity rates.
Researchers believe that cooler external temperatures force our bodies to burn more energy to keep warm.

"By lowering the room temperature you can increase the speed of weight loss," Dr. Eric Braverman,RIFT Platinum author of "The Younger (Sexier) You," told AOL Health. "For those looking to lose weight, it can be an additional strategy for added impact." He adds that it should not be the only strategy, however.

According to Braverman, decreased temperatures have been shown to burn brown fat in the body. Brown fat, or stored calories, responds to mild cold and burns energy to create heat.rift gold "The cold actually helps activate the brown fat burning process," explains Braverman.

Studies have shown that obese individuals have less brown fat than skinny people. But brown fat loses its effectiveness in burning energy if it's not used and exposed to cooler temperatures.

Johnson and her team documented that household heating rates have increased in the United Kingdom as well as the United States over the last decade. In addition,RIFT Platinum people are not only turning up their thermostats a degree or two, but they're leaving them turned up all the time, not even turning them down at bedtime.

People are also spending less time outdoors. This, combined with the higher indoor temperatures, means most people are probably not exposed to the most effective level of cold for fat burning. So people are using less energy to maintain their body temperatures, and without that exposure to cold, humans seem to lose some of their ability to warm up on their own.

That doesn't mean if you turn down your thermostat you'll lose five pounds. Cutting the heat might tempt you to put on extra layers and eat more, but evidence suggests that even adding a sweater and snacking on a sandwich will not completely cancel out the potentail fat-burning effects of cold exposure.

Johnson told Discovery News evidence is still lacking.TERA Gold Researchers do not know how cold a person would have to be for what period of time in order for these effects to take place.

Barverman thinks Johnson's team may be onto something, however. "The Southern belt is much more obese than the Northern belt in America," he says, adding he believes the exposure to cold may play a role.

Releasing Stress One Breath at a Time

Ancient cultures the world over have recognized that well-being springs from a life lived in balance. But with the demanding pace of modern life, it seems almost impossible to achieve a balanced lifestyle. The American Institute of Stress reports that stress-related problems account for 75 to 90 percent of adult visits to primary care physicians.1 What then is the true cost to our health of living a stress-filled life, and what can we do about it?

While stress is named as one of our top health issues,Rift Gold it's not actually new. Life expectancy was only 30 to 45 years of age in the early 20th century, when top stressors were how to avoid cholera or find sanitary conditions. Now with the promise of a longer life before us, we worry about juggling current work, financial and family pressures in the face of a shifting world.

If stress has always been around and always will be, wouldn't it make sense to simply accept the fact and get used to it? The Mayo Clinic warns us that the impact of stress can sneak up on us in devastating ways, and if left unchecked can contribute to a number of health problems.RIFT Platinum The immediate symptoms of stress range from chest pain, headaches, upset stomachs, insomnia, social withdrawal, angry outbursts and lack of concentration, with long-term repercussions contributing to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Whether we are being chased by a saber tooth tiger, side-stepping a small pox outbreak, or are pursued by mounting deadlines, our bodies react in much the same way. And the good news is that many ancient tools are still powerful solutions regardless of the source of stress.

Since our earliest history, virtually every culture has valued breath as an important tool in bringing balance when life gets challenging. In ancient Greece, pneuma meant "breath" as well as "life" and "spirit," and breath practice was seen as vital for both physical and emotional wellness. India developed an entire system of breath practices which is currently found in yoga and Ayurvedic medicine. Within these systems,rift gold the Sanskrit term prana refers to our physical breath, and the essence of life itself.

Ayurveda is one of the earliest medical traditions to emphasize the importance of breath on our health and well-being, with origins reaching back to the mid-second to mid-first millennium B.C. Arising from ancient India, Ayurveda is Sanskrit for "science/knowledge of longevity." Today Ayurvedic medicine is being researched by the National Institute of Health, and the World Health Organization supports the integration of its practices into modern medicine.2

Within Ayurveda,3 breath is a major factor in supporting agni, or our "digestive fire." This refers not only to absorbing the nutrients from food, but also metabolizing experiences, memories and emotions such as guilt, anger and pent-up sadness.RIFT Platinum Using the breath to support the healthy assimilation of undigested emotions moves us out of the stress response and into balanced living.

China is another culture that developed elegant breathing practices, and they exist as a branch of traditional Chinese medicine. And from Central Park in New York to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, you can still glimpse the 4,000-year-old breath and movement forms of tai chi and chi gung being practiced in the early morning hours. And it's clear that the stress-relieving benefits run deep, as a study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience revealed that these practices reduce blood pressure and stabilize the sympathetic nervous system.

Try these ancient stress relievers for yourself:

•Balancing breath: Breathe in while silently counting 1-2-3-4, and hold your breath in for another four counts. Then fully exhale while silently counting 1-2-3-4, and pause for four additional counts before your next breath. Find a tempo that you can evenly maintain during all four parts of this breath cycle. Complete the series five to six times, or for about a minute. Then allow your breath to return its own natural rhythm.

•Full-body breath: We've learned from science that the oxygen we breath nourishes every cell in our body. Using a full but natural breath, imagine the vitality from your breath flowing upward, TERA Goldbringing clarity to your mind and ease to your emotions. Exhale, directing your breath down through your body from head to toe, releasing tension along the way. Continue for one to three minutes, relaxing your body as you clear your mind.


•Quality breath: Continue with full-body breathing, and add a word, such as "strength" or "calm," that captures a quality you would like to feel or amplify. Silently repeat the word on each in- and out-breath. Continue for three minutes.

Because our breath travels with us wherever we go, it's easy to incorporate mini stress-reliving sessions throughout the day. And the oxygen we get from breath practices fuels our vitality as well as releases stress. So whether you're waiting in line at the market, riding the bus or finally home kicking off your shoes, they are all great times to take a breather.

Super Sleepers: Could You Be One?

Do you think you can function on four hours of sleep? What about if you got four hours for two nights? What if you only got four hours of sleep every night for a week -- do you think you could function normally then?

The answer for almost all of us is no. Most of us need about six to eight hours of sleep a night -- the exact number is different for each us.Rift Gold While we may claim that we can function on five or so hours of sleep, the truth of the matter is that if you're only getting five hours of sleep each night, you are very, very sleep deprived.

Unless, of course, you find out you are aren't. An article in the Wall Street Journal is one of many that have recently discussed a group of people called either "super sleepers" or "short sleepers" -- people who actually need fewer than six hours of sleep each night. True short sleepers not only can function normally on this amount of sleep, but they also generally wake up naturally after about four or five hours.RIFT Platinum While many people claim or wish that they were in this population, only 1 percent to 3 percent of people are actually short sleepers.

Researchers think that this ability to function on such little sleep is likely a genetic anomaly (sorry, you can't teach yourself to be a short sleeper), and the differences don't end with the amount of sleep needed:

•Short sleepers have different circadian rhythms from most people.

•They also tend to be more upbeat and optimistic.


•They have a higher tolerance for physical and psychological pain.


•While sleep deprivation usually correlates with obesity and diabetes, short sleepers tend to have higher metabolisms than most people,rift gold and on average are actually thinner.

It seems sort of unfair that these short sleepers can sleep for so little time and actually have more energy than those of us who need six to eight hours every night. But this ability is very rare -- in fact, the researcher mentioned in he Wall Street Journal article said that he had only identified about 20 actual short sleepers. Just as you don't hear about people who drink, RIFT Platinumsmoke and eat poorly living to the ripe old age of 100 very often, you don't hear about too many people who live like vampires and escape the ravages of that lifestyle. Those who claim they "get by" on very little sleep are likely fooling themselves, but their bodies won't fool them for too long. Eventually, that lack of sleep will show up somewhere in the way they look or feel (or both). And ultimately, their health will suffer.

If you really think you might be a short sleeper, consider one of the questions the researchers used to identify members of this group of sleeping elite: If you have the chance to sleep longer on weekends or vacation, do you still only sleep five hours a night?

If you sleep seven or eight hours when you can,TERA Gold chances are high you aren't a short sleeper -- and you really need those seven or eight hours every night of the week as well.

Trainer Firas Zahabi Considering Moving Yves Jabouin Down to Bantamweight

Yves Jabouin's days of fighting at 145 pounds may soon be coming to an end.

Following Jabouin's third loss in his last four fights at UFC 129, Rift Gold his head trainer Firas Zahabi said on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour that it could be time for the exciting featherweight to consider moving down a weight class.

"I'm going to consider dropping him to 135," Zahabi said. "That's something I've talked to him about, and he could make 135 easily, I believe. RIFT Platinum He just doesn't like cutting weight.

"You could see the great size difference between him and his opponent, and I'm a big believer in not giving away any advantages. I felt he gave away the size advantage, that's why Garza was able to get some knees in and I think Yves' striking is far beyond his opponent Pablo Garza. Garza is more of a jiu-jitsu specialist, but he is bigger and taller and had a weight advantage, rift gold so he was able to work his game.

"But I really believe Yves also has to go more to the drawing board and work more on jiu-jitsu and make some extra time for his jiu-jitsu."

Jabouin dominated Pablo Garza in the opening minutes of their fight on Saturday night with his speed and leg kicks. Unfortunately for him, RIFT Platinum Garza's superior height and BJJ skills helped "The Scarecrow" pull off an impressive flying triangle choke with seconds remaining in the first round.

Jabouin began his WEC career with two straight losses to Raphael Assuncao and Mark Hominick.TERA Gold He snapped that losing streak at WEC 52, defeating Brandon Visher via unanimous decision.

The 31-year-old Haitian-Canadian has a pro MMA record of 15-7.

Alternative Funerals: Thinking Outside the Box

Death isn't cheap: According to recent studies, the average cost of a traditional funeral is almost $8,000. And unlike weddings -- the other big-ticket, life-changing event that most people go through -- funerals often arrive suddenly, potentially devastating the bank accounts of one's survivors.

In America, internment usually comes down to a choice between burial and cremation, which many see as a cheaper, more convenient option. Both choices have their pluses and minuses: Traditional burial is expensive and environmentally destructive; on the other hand, it provides loved ones with an opportunity to say goodbye and leaves behind a permanent place where friends and family can visit. On the other hand, cremation is convenient and inexpensive, but a standard scattering of ashes can leave the bereaved feeling bereft, robbed of the opportunity to leave -- and revisit -- their loved one.

Recently, however, some companies have developed burial options that combine the benefits of cremation with the permanence of traditional burial at a fraction of its cost.

Ocean Burials

One of the most romantic forms of internment, burial at sea, can be especially evocative for Navy veterans. And, with prices for sprinkling ashes at sea starting at $100, it can also be extremely affordable. TERA Gold Many companies use biodegradable containers and old-fashioned burial shrouds, reducing the environmental impact. What's more, by giving the bereaved the GPS coordinates for their loved one, many at-sea burial companies make it possible for return visits.

While even the basic burial at sea is environmentally responsible, there are some ocean burial options that actually help improve the environment. For example, Eternal Reefs, a Georgia-based company, combines the ashes of the deceased with cement to create a concrete reef ball. This huge, porous ball is then lowered into the ocean, where various aquatic creatures can make their homes on its rough surface. Loved ones can take part in the reef ball construction, and multiple family members can be buried inside a single reef ball. RIFT Platinum The price for internment starts at $2,995, but larger reef balls can accommodate up to four family members. To make it easier for loved ones to visit, the reef balls have built-in GPS transmitters and plaques commemorating the inhabitants.

Get Shot into Space

For the explorer in your family, what could be better than being shot into space? Celestis offers its own version of eternity: For relatively small fees starting at $695, rift gold they will place up to fourteen ounces of your cremated remains into a rocket -- along with those of a lot of other people. The basic service sends you into space for only two minutes and forty seconds before you come hurtling back to Earth, but other options will let your remains travel to the moon -- or even to the stars -- for eternity. This last option, which starts at $12,500, was chosen by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife Majel Barrett; their launch is planned for 2012.

Get Turned into Jewelry

While space is an exciting option, some families like to keep their deceased members a little closer. If you plan to stay with your loved ones for eternity, you might consider becoming a Lifegem. The Illinois-based company will take carbon from your hair or cremated remains and, using a proprietary process, compress it into a diamond. RIFT Platinum Sizes range between 0.2 and 1.5 carats and cost between $2,490 and $24,999. If you don't care for the standard clear diamond color, Lifegem also offers jewels in blue, red, yellow, or green.

While a single jewel is certainly impressive, Lifegem also appreciates the value of accessorizing: If you buy two or more diamonds, they offer a discount. Rift Gold They can also make gems out of pets or multiple family members. Ultimately, this may be the most cost-effective internment method available: After all, while most funerals leave you with a family plot, Lifegem can leave you with a tennis bracelet.

Gene Therapy Raises Hope for Future AIDS Cure

In a bold new approach ultimately aimed at trying to cure AIDS, scientists used genetic engineering in six patients to develop blood cells that are resistant to HIV, the virus that causes the disease.

It's far too early to know if this scientific first will prove to be a cure, or even a new treatment.Rift Gold The research was only meant to show that, so far, it seems feasible and safe.

The concept was based on the astonishing case of an AIDS patient who seems to be cured after getting blood cells from a donor with natural immunity to HIV nearly four years ago in Berlin. Researchers are seeking a more practical way to achieve similar immunity using patients' own blood cells.

The results announced Monday at a conference in Boston left experts cautiously excited.

"For the first time, people are beginning to think about a cure" as a real possibility, said Dr. John Zaia,RIFT Platinum head of the government panel that oversees gene therapy experiments. Even if the new approach doesn't get rid of HIV completely, it may repair patients' immune systems enough that they can control the virus and not need AIDS medicines - "what is called a functional cure," he said.

Carl Dieffenbach, AIDS chief at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, agreed.

"We're hopeful that this is sufficient to give the level of immune reconstitution similar to what was seen with the patient from Germany," he said.

This is the first time researchers have permanently deleted a human gene and infused the altered cells back into patients. Other gene therapy attempts tried to add a gene or muffle the activity of one, and have not worked against HIV.

The virus can damage the immune system for years before people develop symptoms and are said to have AIDS - acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The virus targets special immune system soldiers called T-cells. It usually enters these cells through a protein receptor, or "docking station," called CCR5.

Some people (about 1 percent of whites;rift gold fewer of minorities) lack both copies of the CCR5 gene and are naturally resistant to HIV. One such person donated blood stem cells in 2007 to an American man living in Berlin who had leukemia and HIV.

The cell transplant appears to have cured both problems, but finding such donors for everyone with HIV is impossible, and transplants are medically risky.

So scientists wondered: Could a patient's own cells be used to knock out the CCR5 gene and create resistance to HIV?

A California biotechnology company, Sangamo (SANG-uh-moh) BioSciences Inc., makes a treatment that can cut DNA at precise locations and permanently "edit out" a gene.

Dr. Jacob Lalezari, director of Quest Clinical Research of San Francisco, led the first test of this with the company and colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

He warned that it would be "way overstated" to suggest that the results so far are a possible cure.

"It's an overreach of the data.RIFT Platinum There are a lot of people out there with hopes and dreams around the C-word," so caution is needed.

In the study, six men with HIV had their blood filtered to remove a small percentage of their T-cells. The gene-snipping compound was added in the lab, and about one-fourth of the cells were successfully modified. The cells were mixed with growth factors to make them multiply and then infused back into the patients.

Three men received about 2.5 billion modified cells. Three others received about 5 billion.

Three months later, five men had three times the number of modified cells expected. As much as 6 percent of their total T-cells appear to be the new type - resistant to HIV, Lalezari said.

The sixth man also had modified cells, but fewer than expected. In all six patients, the anti-HIV cells were thriving nearly a year after infusion, even in tissues that can hide HIV when it can't be detected in blood.

"The cells are engrafting - they're staying in the bloodstream, they're expanding over time," said Lalezari, who has no personal financial ties to Sangamo, the study's sponsor.

The only side effect was two days of flulike symptoms. It will take longer to determine safety,TERA Gold but several AIDS experts said they were encouraged so far.

"It is a huge step" and a first for the field of genetics, said John Rossi, a researcher at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., where he and Zaia plan another study to test Sangamo's approach. "The idea is if you take away cells the virus can infect, you can cure the disease."

On Wednesday, Dr. Carl June, a gene therapy expert at the University of Pennsylvania, will report partial results from a second, federally funded study of 10 people testing Sangamo's product. He treated his first patient with it in July 2009.

Many questions remain:

• People born without the CCR5 gene are generally healthy, but will deleting it have unforeseen consequences?

• Will HIV find another way into cells? Certain types of the virus can use a second protein receptor, though this is less common and usually when AIDS is advanced. Sangamo is testing a similar approach aimed at that protein, too.

• How long will the modified cells last? Will more be needed every few years?

• Could doctors just infuse Sangamo's product rather than removing cells and modifying them in the lab?

• What might this cost?

Sangamo spokeswoman Liz Wolffe said it's too early in testing to guess, but it would be "a premier-priced" therapy - in the neighborhood of Dendreon Corp.'s new prostate cancer immune therapy, Provenge - $93,000.

Yet AIDS drugs can cost $25,000 a year, so this could still be cost-effective, especially if it's a cure.

Jay Johnson, 50, who works for Action AIDS, an advocacy and service organization in Philadelphia, had the treatment there in September.

"My results are excellent," he said. "The overall goal is to not have to take medication, and then hopefully lead maybe to a cure."

Matt Sharp, 54, of suburban San Francisco, also had the treatment in September.

"I would trade anything to not have to take a handful of medications every day for the rest of my life and suffer all the consequences and side effects," he said.

"I may not live long enough to see the cure, but I always hoped for a chance."

Optimism May Help You Live Longer, Study Shows

A positive outlook may help guard against heart disease and increase the chances of a long life, a new study suggests, bolstering previous findings.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center followed 2,800 patients who'd been hospitalized with heart disease.Rift Gold Those with the most optimistic attitudes about making a full recovery were more likely to live longer than their pessimistic counterparts, according to lead author John Barefoot.

Specifically, the upbeat heart patients had a 30 percent greater chance of survival after 15 years than the negative ones.

"Our research shows better physical recovery and a higher likelihood of survival is linked to attitude -- personal beliefs about their illness," Barefoot,RIFT Platinum a professor emeritus at Duke, told USA Today.

The team of scientists asked the cardiac patients being treated for coronary artery disease to fill out a questionnaire while they were in the hospital being diagnosed. The survey asked them how they felt about their recovery and their outlook on resuming their normal way of life.

They were told to "agree" or "disagree" with statements including "I expect my lifestyle will suffer;" "I can still live a long, healthy life;" and "I doubt that I'll ever fully recover," according to Barefoot.

The researchers tracked the patients for about 15 years after their treatment and accounted for a wide range of factors, including age, gender, seriousness of condition, depression and income level,rift gold the paper said. They still found that optimism was linked with longevity and better health.

Though it isn't known exactly why a positive attitude seems to be correlated with good health, Barefoot theorizes it may be because optimistic people handle illness better, are less likely to give up hope, are more adept at problem solving, have less of a physiological reaction to stress and exercise more regularly.

"I think those kinds of things need to be investigated in much more detail," he said.

There could be other explanations for the results, however.

Dr. Steven E. Nissen, RIFT Platinumdepartment chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, told ABC News that patients "with a 'positive' attitude may simply be healthier than patients with a negative attitude. In fact, their 'attitude' may reflect their health status."

The optimistic participants may also have been getting higher-quality medical treatment than the pessimistic ones.

"Cardiovascular providers [might] give better care to patients with a positive outlook -- perhaps spending more time with them or being more conscientious," Dr.TERA Gold James Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told ABC.