grow older better

Tag: human interest

  • Puzzles? Reading? Yes – they ARE good for you!

    crossword puzzleKeep reading and doing those puzzles as you get older.

    In fact, if you are younger, and don't do puzzles –  start now and keep doing them … it's good for your brain –

    According to a study:

    Doing puzzles and reading books have been linked with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a new study may explain why — it reduces the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain.

    I've always believed that games play the same role – they keep our brains active. And they provide, what I found, were some therapeutic results for people of many ages.

    pinball machineOf course I do have a bias.

    I am, and have been, a big game player.  I started out with pinball, moved on to amusement park arcades, video games and now computer games.

    Just ask my son who played his video games more – him or me?  :)

    I grew up with crossword puzzles and still do them. And the same with reading. Guess now I am glad I did so much of what others tended to call a "waste of time."

    Do you play games? Do puzzles?

    Have some favorites to share? Thanks……

     

     

  • When I Grow Up I Want To Be ….

    When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer.

    libraryI knew what writers did as I was a library aficionado. I read books about dogs and horses and wrote books about horses and dogs – even drawing my own pictures. And as I got older I had the main NY public library on 42nd Street to roam. [I think I most loved walking up the steps between the lions.]

    I also recall wanting to be other things like a circus performer, a ballerina, a vet, etc. Ah the power of a child’s imagination. Then when I was in high school I wanted to be an actor or a mathematician.

    How I wound up becoming a psychologist and then an attorney can be attributed to life – who I met, when I met them and where I was living at the time.

    Well after Graduate School and a return to the Boston area, a friend [also a psychologist] and I seriously considered opening a restaurant. We knew the exact location we wanted but could not rent it. So my breads and salads never went public. [Friend was a soup person.]

    I did get back to writing and published some research and a few textbooks – and might have kept doing that but full time academia and I parted company.

    In D.C. – I almost lived at the Library of Congress and loved one job I had as I researched old Congressional Quarterly's and other ancient documents.

    Now I write what I want – from my head – and often without academic research. It’s Lynn’s opinion pieces about the world of human development and politics. And my neighbors get to enjoy my breads and salads at our potlucks.

    I was fine with this – but life again came a knocking and now –

    ta da!

    I may actually get into to the restaurant business – a pizza place family business.

    When I grow up I want to write and have a restaurant.

    You are never too old to do what you dreamed you wanted to do when you were a kid! [or early adult]

     

    What did you want to do as a kid? did you? will you?

  • You Will Likely Live to 90

    What will you do with all the extra years?

    older_woman_at_computer

    Right now there are nearly 2 million people in the USA who are in their 90s and it is projected that by 2050 three will be 9 million of us over 90.

    What will the extra years be like for us?

    Many "seniors" are already worried about outliving their incomes and  adding more years to their lives may add more expenses but not necessarily more income.

    Living into one's 90's or 100's is no longer the stuff of legends 

    • it is happening to us
    • and happening right now
    • and will continue to happen

    Will you just grow old?

    Or grow older better by:

    Eating well

    Exercising

    Taking supplements [but make sure they are not made from rocks and petroleum]

    Being social

    Hanging out with friends on your computer

    Continuing to work [by finding a new career] – even if you don't need the  money

    Playing


    SMILING!!

     

    Thoughts? Comments?


     

  • Food And Brain Shrinkage

    What are we doing to our brains;(

    sharp_brains

    We now know that poor diets and damage to the hypothalamus are related.

    Here's another reason to eat more healthy foods as we age – it will keep you mentally sharper.

    A study, published in the journal Neurology, found that

    Elderly people with higher levels of vitamins B, C, D and E, and omega-3 fatty acids in their blood are mentally sharper…higher levels of vitamins and fish body oils resulted in less brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's disease, while "junk food" diets — trans-fats found in baked and fried foods, margarine, fast-food and other less-healthy dietary choices — produced just the opposite result.

    But – beware how you get those vitamins. We also know that most of the vitamins taken are synthetics – and contain petroleum, rocks and coal tar – which can not be good for you! Food based vitamins and supplements are what a body needs – so you can and will

    grow older better

     

    Thoughts?  Comments?

  • Obesity Is Linked To Changes In The Brain

    human_brain

    What are we doing to our brains?

    Our bodies?

     

    The hypothalamus is a small almond sized structure situated just above the brain stem and controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian cycles. These are functions in the category of homeostasis – or balance.  Look what we are doing!

    Obesity appears to be strongly linked to structural changes in the brains of rats and humans, according to new research.
     
    During a study of high-fat diets in the brains of mice and rats bred to become obese, researchers found evidence of early and lasting injury to a specific part of the hypothalamus.

    Then using brain imaging, the researchers also found signs of similar damage in the same area of the brain in obese humans.
    No one has found a cause and effect – but interesting questions are being asked and further studies will be designed.

    If obesity changes what is basically the hunger thermostat – it might explain a lot about why people keep eating even when they know it may not be good for their health.

    And this study was done on rats and adults so another question would be what happens to young children who are gaining so much weight? If their brains are also changed in not-so-good-ways by the weight, what else might that affect developmentally?

    More questions that need answers!  But while we wait for more answers, please eat healthier foods and grow older better!!

     

    Thoughts? Comments?