Is retirement lethal?
eviously I've posted on how retirement is correlated with cognitive decline. The proof keeps on rolling in: We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a longitudinal survey that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. We use a version of the model proposed by Grossman (1972) as a guide for our empirical specification of the age-profile…
3 minutes
How To Stress Out Less And Reduce Worrying
body likes stressing and worrying. And, no, even if you think it keeps you sharp it's not good for you. It can cause all sorts of health problems over time, including messing up your memory and ability to pay attention: The authors report the first direct assessment of working memory capacity when people engage in worry. High and low worriers performed a random key-press task while thinking about a current worry or a positive personally relevant topic. High (but not…
3 minutes
Will you be able to cope when tragedy strikes?
, I'm not selling insurance. You may wonder about your ability to deal with extreme adversity -- or even extremely positive events. Turns out we can usually anticipate major events and quickly adapt. Chances are, you'll be fine: This paper addresses the question of when and to what extent individuals are affected by major positive and negative life events, including changes in financial situation, marital status, death of child or spouse and being a victim of crime. The key advantage…
1 min read
Can living like you’re young prevent aging?
some point we all wish we could turn back the clock. But is it as easy as merely acting as if you were still younger? To a good degree, the answer may be yes. Via BBC: Prof Langer recruited a group of elderly men all in their late 70s or 80s for what she described as a "week of reminiscence". They were not told they were taking part in a study into ageing, an experiment that would transport them…
3 minutes
What makes medication 2-4x as effective? Adding a placebo:
a eurekalert.org: Researchers used the placebo effect to successfully treat psoriasis patients with one quarter to one half of their usual dose of a widely used steroid medication, according to an early study published online today in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Early results in human patients suggest that the new technique could improve treatment for several chronic diseases that involve mental state or the immune system, including asthma, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. By designing treatment regimens that mix active…
2 minutes
Do nice doctors heal you faster?
a scientificamerican.com Empathy Heals: Patients whose doctors show concern recover from colds faster It feels good when someone pays attention to our concerns and our feelings—and it turns out such empathy is good for our health, too. Researchers at the University Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health report in Family Medicine that patients of doctors who expressed such concern had a cold for one day fewer than patients whose physicians focused on just the facts. In randomized controlled trials…
1 min read
Does exercise boost immunity?
a well.blogs.nytimes.com The bulk of the new research, including the mouse studies mentioned, reinforce a theory that physiologists advanced some years ago, about what they call “a J-shaped curve” involving exercise and immunity. In this model, the risk both of catching a cold or the flu and of having a particularly severe form of the infection “drop if you exercise moderately,” says Mary P. Miles, PhD, an associate professor of exercise sciences at Montana State University and the author of an…
1 min read
