Male Menopause: No Longer a Myth, But a Medical Reality By blog My search to understand male menopause began in the early 1990s and was both personal and professional. Personally, I was nearing the age of 50 and my wife was telling me something was wrong. ΓÇ£YouΓÇÖre hormonal,ΓÇ¥ she told me. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs like youΓÇÖre going through menopause or something.ΓÇ¥ At first I laughed at the idea. But professionally many of my male clients were experiencing prostate problems, erectile dysfunctions, anger, depression, and other symptoms that I was learning were related to the ΓÇ£change of life.ΓÇ¥
_ Mental & Emotional Health When Thoughts Pop Into Your Head By Jane Farrell article When a random thought pops unbidden in your head, do you ever have the feeling that this occurrence reveals some meaningful insight about you? Then youΓÇÖre far from alone. Yet according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Harvard Business School, that notion is not based in fact and can sway your judgment.
_ Skin Skin Health Indoor Tanning Ups Melanoma Risk By Jane Farrell article If you or your teenage children or grandchildren believe that getting an indoor tan will prevent burns from outdoor sun exposure, youΓÇÖre courting the deadliest form of skin cancer. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of researchers at the University of Minnesota who published their study May 29th 2014 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The team reports that indoor tanning raises the risk of developing melanoma even if a person has never had burns from either indoor or outdoor tanning.
_ Relationships & Love Toxic Relationships Raise Your Blood Pressure By Sondra Forsyth article Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have shown what you have probably suspected all along: Unpleasant or demanding interpersonal encounters increase hypertension risk. That unfortunate result is particularly true for women 51 to 64 -- but not men. The study was published in May 2014 in the American Psychological Association's journal Health Psychology.
Time For A Deep Cleaning By blog Are you ready for some cleaning? Not the kind where you clean out your closet, wash your windows or freshen up your home accessories. IΓÇÖm talking about DEEP cleaning! Clearing your mind, body and spirit of the limiting beliefs that are keeping you from reaching your full God-given potential, so you can move forward with a lightness in your step and joy in your heart. There is no better time than today to begin a midlife cleanse!
_ If You're Considering A Cochlear Implant By Jane Farrell article Cochlear implants ΓÇö which bypass damaged or nonworking parts of the inner ear ΓÇö can improve hearing for anyone with hearing loss that canΓÇÖt be adequately managed with conventional hearing aids. Cochlear implants are electronic devices that convert acoustic sounds into electrical pulses that stimulate the auditory nerve directly. The pulses, which are organized like the keys of a piano, are delivered to points along the inner ear. The pulses stimulate the auditory cells that represent the various speech sounds.
E-Cigs Not Healthy By Jane Farrell article Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Division of Allergy and Immunology warn that although one of the initial "health benefits" proposed by e-cigarettes makers was that it would help those who smoke cigarettes cut back, that theory hasn't been proven and there's no evidence to support the claims. An article about the findings was published in the June 2014 issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
Fibromyalgia Awareness By blog May 12th was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I marked that day by introducing my new project, 101 Answers About Fibromyalgia. This project is dedicated not only to those who have fibromyalgia, but to those who love people who have fibromyalgia. The goal is to collect at least 101 questions about the condition and gather the answers from different experts around the world. Regular visitors to my blog know that I've written about fibromyalgia before, both here and for other outlets.
_ 10 Facts About Depression By Jane Farrell article By Dr. Prakash Masand May is Mental Health Month, and a time to bring awareness to the many conditions that make up mental illness. One of the most common is depression. Unfortunately, many people have been misled about the facts of depression from what theyΓÇÖve seen on TV or in the movies, or have heard about from their friends and others. What are the real facts about depression? Here are the 10 ten facts that everyone should know about depression: 1. ThereΓÇÖs more to depression than just feeling blue.
_ Caregiving How to Avoid Financial Ruin as a Caregiver By article By Hilary Young A shrinking middle class, medical expenses at an all-time high and a caregiver shortage: it’s the perfect cocktail for financial ruin. And now a new study from researchers with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada has found that women in particular are more susceptible to going bankrupt when caring for an elderly parent.
Five Sex-Positive Results of Celibacy By Jane Farrell blog Let’s define celibacy versus abstinence. The terms are often used interchangeably, yet for the purposes of this article, they are two different concepts. According to the website Wait Until Marriage, abstinence is defined as the absence of sexual intercourse, whereas celibacy is the avoidance of all forms of sexual activity. People who abstain from sex often date, kiss and have oral sex. Abstinence is a method of managing potential STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Many people of faith also want to wait until marriage to engage in full sexual relations. Celibacy is a way of being that avoids all sexual situations. This can often demand the avoidance of dating altogether, as it did for me.
_ A New Approach to Treating Peanut Allergies By article If your grandchildren have to avoid PB&J sandwiches, once a staple of school lunch boxes, you’re far from alone. More and more people have food allergies that can sometimes have life-threatening consequences. Now scientists at the American Chemical Society report in May 2014 in the' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they have developed of a new type of flour that someday could be used in food-based therapies to help people better tolerate their allergy triggers, including peanuts.
_ Mental & Emotional Health May Is Mental Health Month: WhereΓÇÖs Your Sanity? By article By Dr. Claudia LuizΓÇ¿ΓÇ¿ Everybody is overwhelmed and nobody is afraid to talk about it. Historically speaking, we are more sophisticated than ever emotionally; we are highly aware of what we feel, and we can talk about it. If we don’t feel better, it’s only because our methods for dealing with what we feel are still so antiquated. It’s just the same-old, same-old: try to be better, get inspired to change. But it doesn’t’ work. ΓÇ¿ ΓÇ¿
_ New Molecule to Treat Asthma By article A new, potent therapeutic agent to treat asthma is on the horizon, according to findings published on May 12th 2014 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show promise for, a chronic disease affecting more than 25 million Americans. The research study was done at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in Orlando, the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Germany, the Free University of Berlin in Germany, Shinshu University in Japan, and the University of California, San Diego.
_ Stem Cells Make ΓÇ£Heart Disease-on-a-ChipΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article Harvard scientists have merged stem cell and “organ-on-a-chip” technologies to grow, for the first time, functioning human heart tissue carrying an inherited cardiovascular disease. The research appears to be a big step forward for personalized medicine because it is working proof that a chunk of tissue containing a patient's specific genetic disorder can be replicated in the laboratory.
Grounding (Earthing): The Easiest Way to Fight Stress By blog We all know that the world is becoming more stressful every day. We worry about the economy, another war in a place we’ve never heard of, our parents getting old and dying, the well-being of our children, our own health. Sometimes it seems like our lives are one endless series of stresses. The bad news is that stress is on the rise and it’s causing major problems for many of us. The good news is that there are simple ways to combat stress and get back in control of our lives.
_ Caregiving Aging in Place: The ΓÇ£Granny PodsΓÇ¥ Trend By article By Hilary Young According to the American Association of Retired Persons, over 80 percent of adults now intend to age in place. Nursing homes are no longer the norm. Many seniors prefer to stay active and remain independent for as long as possible. One major trend that is helping to make this wish come true is the proliferation of transitional housing options, otherwise known as “Granny Pods.”
_ Parenting Virtual Reality Helps Autistic Adults Get Jobs By article If you’re the parent of a grown or teenage child on the autism spectrum, you may have concerns about your offspring’s possibilities for employment and independent living. (See our ThirdAge article entitled “My Adult Son Has Asperger’s Syndrome.”) Now researchers at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago have created a new interactive computer program using human-based simulation that gives autistic adults repeated practice and feedback on their interviewing skills.