If you don’t know the song, now it’s a good time to search for it and listen. It might be hilarious, but its message should make everyone smile: no matter what your problems are, you should be optimistic that they will solve somehow.

This is somehow the conclusion of a new study led by Hilary Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She and colleagues surveyed the personality traits of middle-aged women involved in the Women’s Health Initiative study run by the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers found that Women who were optimistic – those who were grateful for what they had and had a positive attitude towards the future, expecting good rather than bad things to happen – were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause than pessimists. After a follow-up period of eight years, optimists were 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease than pessimists.

Furthermore, optimistic women were also less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or smoke cigarettes.

Trying to explain the findings, Tindle said: “Optimistic people seem to seek medical advice and follow it. They [also] have good social networks and strong social relationship,” which could help them cope with chronic stress, a risk factor for heart disease. However, she said that more studies are needed to see if a change in attitude is associated with positive heath effects. 

The findings were reported at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting Thursday.