The Daily Reporter from Greenfield, Indiana • Page 15

5B Daily Reporter Hancock County, Indiana Wednesday, November 29, 2006 TT AIDS deaths climbing VAu CI Research HIVAIDS ranking A Public Library of Science Medicine journal report indicates HIVAIDS may surpass lower respiratory infections to become the third leading cause of death. The world's leading causes Of death, with projection for 2030 02 2030, 1 Ischaemic heart disease 1 2. Cerebrovascular disease 2 3. Lower respiratory infections 5 4. HIVAIDS 3 5.

COPD 4 6. Perinatal conditions 9 7. Diarrhoeal diseases 1 6 8. Tuberculosis 23 9. Trachea, bronchus, king cancers 6 lO.Road traffic accidents 8 Figures near those for heart disease, stroke Associated Press London Within the next 25 years, AIDS is set to join heart disease and stroke as the top three causes of death worldwide, according to a study published online Monday.

When global mortality projections were last calculated a decade ago, researchers had assumed the number of AIDS cases would be declining. Instead, it's on the rise. Currently ranked fourth behind heart disease, stroke, and respiratory infections, AIDS is set to become No. 3, say researchers in a new report in the Public Library of Science's Medicine journal. It accounts for about 2.8 million deaths every year.

But the researchers estimate a total of nearly 120 million people could die in the next 25 years. Overall, the researchers predict that in three decades, the causes of global mortality will be strikingly similar worldwide apart from the prevalence of AIDS in poorer countries. Most people will be dying at older ages of noninfectious diseases like cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. The paper by Dr. Colin Mathers and Dejan Loncar of the World Health Organization estimates that at a total of least 117 million people will die from AIDS from 2006 to 2030.

In an optimistic future projection, if new HIV infections are curbed and access to life-prolonging antiretrovirals is increased, 89 million people will die from the disease. I Associated Press Caroline Adams Miller, a motivational speaker, mere at American University about "happiness" addresses a group of young competitive swim- Nov. 9 in northwest Washington. on't worry, be seek routes to Dully "flakes Jteat ify! What a nice thoughts A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION keeps on entertaining, informing and enlightening every day of the year, whatever their interests. Whether it's family, friend, neighbor, student away from home or service person overseas.

Their hometown newspaper is sure to please day after day. $120.75, In Area $154.00, Out of Area 52 WEEKS SOURCE: Public Library of Science Medicine journal AP i til i lf-k 1 Slate State MasterCard Discover Signature. be a valid order. it is shown on your credit card. Researchers Associated Press New York As a motivational speaker and executive coach, Caroline Adams Miller knows a few things about using mental exercises to achieve goals.

Last year, one exercise she was asked to try took her by surprise. Every night, she was to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred. That was supposed to increase her overall happiness. "I thought it was too simple to be effective," said Miller, 44, of Bethesda. Md.

"I went to Harvard. I'm used to things being complicated." Miller was assigned the task as homework in a master's degree program. But as a chronic worrier, she knew she could use the kind of boost the exercise was supposed to deliver. She got it. "The quality of my dreams has changed, I never have trouble falling asleep and I do feel happier," she said.

Results may vary, as they say in the weight-loss ads. But that exercise is one of several that have shown preliminary promise in recent research into how people can make themselves happier. It's part of a larger body of work that challenges a long-standing skepticism about whether that's even possible. There's no shortage of advice in how to become a happier person, as a visit to any bookstore will demonstrate. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues have collected more than 100 specific recommendations, ranging from those of the Buddha through the self-improvement industry of the 1990s.

The problem is, most of the books on store shelves aren't backed up by rigorous research, says Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, who's conducting such studies now. (She's also writing her own book). She says, there has been very little research in how people become happier. Why? The big reason, she said, is that many researchers OfB 0 Sfl (BW fEDPOOGO 8B80ID happier happier life feel good strategies the five most prominent ones. Then, every day for a week, they are to apply one or more of their strengths in a new way.

Other approaches: -Work on savoring the pleasing things in life like a warm shower or a good breakfast -Write down what you want to be remembered for. -Regularly practice random acts of kindness, things like holding a door open for a stranger or doing a roommate's dishes, for 10 weeks. ows associated with events like serious disability, divorce, widowhood, and getting laid off. The boost from getting married, on the other hand, seems to dissipate after about two years, says psychologist Richard E. Lucas of Michigan State University.

What about the joys of having children? Parents recall those years with fondness, but studies show childrearing takes a toll on marital satisfaction, Harvard psychologist" Daniel' Gilbert notes in his recent book, "Stumbling on Happiness." Parents gain in satisfaction as their kids leave home, he said. Gilbert says people are awful at predicting what will make them happy. Yet, Lucas says, "most people are happy most of the time." That is, in a group of people who have reasonably good health and income, most will probably rate a 7.5 or so on a happiness scale of zero to 10, he says. Miller said the think-of-three-good-things exercise made her notice more good things in her day. Now she routinely lists 10 or 20 rather than just three.

Diener says happiness probably is really about work and striving. "Happiness is the process, not the place," he said via e-mail. "So many of us think that when we get everything just right, and obtain certain goals and circumstances, everything will be in place and we will be But once we get everything in place, we still need new goals and activities. The Princess could not just stop when she got the Prince." it lOrrcinnrvH SUM Coll loioy to crdsr in time for ms Holidays. Cjr circulation department will provide an attractive certificob announcing your gift.

DAILY REPORTER P.O. Box 279 Greenfield, IN 46140 Attention Circulation Olrector 317-467-6040 Please send Hits gill to: Name Study tests several The ftinkKf-mree-good-things exercise that Caroline Adams Miller found so simplistic at first is among those being tested by Martin Seligman's group at the University of Pennsylvania. It was among five exercises tested on more than 500 peo-" pie who'd visited a Web site called "Authentic Happiness." A second approach that has shown promise has people discover their personal strengths through a specialized questionnaire and choose have considered that quest to be futile. For decades, a widely accepted view has been that people are stuck with a basic setting on their happiness thermostat. It says the effects of good or bad life events like marriage, a raise, divorce, or disability will simply fade with time.

We adapt to them just like we stop noticing a bad odor from behind the living room couch after a while, this theory says. So this adaptation "would seem to doom any deliberate attempt to raise a person's basic happiness setting. As two researchers put it in 19, "It may be that trying to be happier is as futile as trying to be taller." Recent long-term studies have revealed that the happiness thermostat is more malleable than the popular theory maintained, at least in its extreme form. "Set-point is not destiny," says psychologist Ed Diener of the University of Illinois. One new study showing change in happiness levels followed thousands of Germans for 17 years.

It found that about a quarter changed significantly over that time in their basic level of satisfaction with life. (That's a popular happiness measure; some studies sample how one feels through the day instead.) Nearly a tenth of the German participants changed by three points or more on a 10-point scale. Other studies show an effect of specific life events, though of course the results are averages and can't predict what will happen to particular individuals. Results show long-lasting shad Associated Press A couple takes a picture of the sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco, in a Nov. 20 file photo.

San Francisco may have to rethink Its relationship with its most visible wildlife attraction. Some scientists speculate that the animals aggressive behavior is being caused by eating fish contaminated by toxic algae, or by a shortage of food off the coast. But wildlife experts say even healthy sea lions are best left alone. I Address. City a A special gilt (rem: Name Phon Address City Pliona Check Charge lo my: VISA Card Number Exp.

Date Recent sea lion attacks challenge animal's cuddly, playful image This card must be signal to Please be sure to print your name eactl as 773-7565 642-S793 i I a a I iH'IKjI? 38 a 67 PeRdletOfl Associated Press San Francisco Tourists flock to Fisherman's Wharf for the seafood and the stunning views of San Francisco Bay, but for many visitors, the real stars are the dozens of playful, whiskered sea lions that lounge by the water's edge, gulping down fish. Now a series of sea-lion attacks on people in recent months has led experts to warn that the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they appear. "People should understand these animals are out there not to attack people or humans. But they're out there to survive for themselves," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. In the most frightening of the recent episodes, a rogue sea lion bit 14 swimmers this month and chased 10 more out of the water at San Francisco's Aquatic Park, a sheltered lagoon near the bay.

At least one victim suffered puncture wounds. ay A IOM Gem.