№ 799. Music Therapy

History of Music

 

№ 797. Is ‘Joyspan’ the Key to Aging Well? A long life doesn’t matter much if you don’t enjoy it.

Amorsolo

№ 794. Many Older People Embrace Vaccines. Research Is Proving Them Right.

The evidence that vaccines are beneficial remains overwhelming.

NPR

№ 746. NFL & Pilates

Medium

№ 687. 8 Habits for Longer Lives

Want to live up to an additional 24 years? Just add eight healthy lifestyle choices to your life at age 40 and that could happen, according to a new unpublished study analyzing data on US veterans. 

• No. 1: First on the list was exercise, which many experts say is one of the most important behaviors anyone can do to improve their health.

• No. 2: Not becoming addicted to opioids was the second most important contributor to a longer life, reducing the risk of early death by 38%, the study found.

• No. 3: Never using tobacco reduced risk of death by 29%, the study found.

• No. 4: Managing stress was next, reducing early death by 22%, the study found. Stress is rampant in the US today, with devastating consequences for health, experts say. And there are ways to revamp your outlook and turn bad stress into good stress.

• No. 5: Eating a plant-based diet would raise your chances of living a longer life by 21%, the study found. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a vegetarian or vegan, Nguyen said. Following a healthy plant-based plan such as the Mediterranean diet full of whole grains and leafy green vegetables was key.

• No. 6: Avoiding binge drinking — which is having more than four alcoholic beverages a day — was another healthy lifestyle habit, reducing the risk of death by 19%.

• No. 7: Getting a good night’s sleep — defined as at least seven to nine hours a night with no insomnia — reduced early death from any cause by 18%, Nguyen said. Dozens of studies have linked poor sleep to all sorts of poor health outcomes, including premature mortality.

• No. 8: Being surrounded by positive social relationships helped longevity by 5%, the study found. However, loneliness and isolation, especially among older adults, is becoming more widespread and worrisome, experts say.

№ 665. Friendships

12 Ideas to Boost Your Happiness

 

Amy Pechukas met her friend Al in 2018 when she rented the apartment under his in Northampton, Mass. They didn’t connect immediately. Amy, now 42, worked four jobs and thought Al, 76, was a curmudgeon with questionable boundaries. He helped look after their two-family home and would frequently enter her apartment to check on her two cats and two dogs.

But Al’s peculiar brand of kindness grew on her. “He often pops in for a conversation spontaneously, at times when I need a lift, and we end up talking for hours,” she said. “We go for evening walks and argue about the route.”

Covid brought them even closer. During lockdown, they would meet in the driveway to talk about the virus or politics. Amy made a Thanksgiving meal, which they ate outside on their porch with electric blankets on their laps. They have celebrated the holiday together ever since.

Al can still be overbearing. He has firm ideas about the way things should be done around the home, like the “right” way to rake the leaves. Every summer, he frets that Amy’s elderly cat, who grows lazy in the heat, is on the verge of death.

But Amy feels deep gratitude for their unexpected friendship, and for the constant, unselfish care Al has shown her and her pets. “When my dog got very sick a year ago and needed me to do round-the-clock care for her, I would come home on occasion to find Al in my kitchen doing my dishes,” she recalled. “‘You can’t do everything, Amy,’ he’d say. ‘You’re doing a great job.’”

Though Al does not say it outright, Amy knows he worries she might move out. She recently interviewed for a position out of state, and Al told her several times that it sounded terrible — reminding her that there were other jobs closer by.

“We just have a lot of fun,” she said. “We like to quote movie lines endlessly, we’ll do that for, like, two hours straight. Last winter we went ice skating in the cemetery because it was flooded. Al’s just a good person.” — Catherine Pearson

№ 657. Marital Vows

Conde Nast

 

WIFE writes: 

My husband heard on the radio that banana peels were edible. Later, I was eating a soup he prepared when he revealed he had put banana peel in it. Please tell my husband to stop this. (P.S.: Since I first wrote you, he put pumpkin in my oatmeal, sprinkling it with cinnamon so I wouldn’t notice.) 

 

ADVICE: 

One might be tempted to dismiss your husband’s pumpkin-spicing your oatmeal as a seasonal joke. But banana-peel soup is a gag in every sense: both prankish and revolting. You deserve to eat food in your own home without fear that it has been laced with compost. And while that oatmeal sounds as if it could actually be pretty good, sneaky is never delicious. Here’s a hint for newly engaged couples: Never dose your partner’s meals with anything, no matter what the radio tells you to do. This should be part of your vows, honestly.

№ 546. Not All Masks Are Created Equal

Is there a hierarchy of masks?
 

A new study in Duke University ranked 14 types of commonly available masks, finding that medical masks offer significantly more protection against droplet spread than cotton alternatives – while bandanas protect less, and neck fleeces don’t do much at all.
 

The study revealed that different masks eliminated droplet spray by the following percentages, from the best to worst:

1. N95 - 99.9%
2. Surgical or polypropylene masks - 90%
3. Cotton face coverings - 70% to 90%
4. Bandanas - 50%
   

Neck fleeces, meanwhile, were found to expel more droplets than with no mask at all, probably by dispersing the largest droplets into many smaller droplets.

"The notion that 'anything is better than nothing' didn't hold true," said Eric Westman, one of the study's co-authors.

 

№ 499. Avoid the Three Cs

World Health Organization

№ 486. Covid 19 Deaths in Numbers: Finding a Context

Newsday

According to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tally, today July 7, 2020, the total global deaths from the coronavirus is 538,796.

It is a staggering number.

To help understand this statistic, I'll try to compare it with other data generated on deaths caused by catastrophic events in the past. Just a few examples:

1. The total number of deaths in World War I was about 15 to 22 million.

2. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished in World War 2, which was about 3% of the 1940 world population (est. 2.3 billion).

3.  A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018 (including 251,000 people with HIV).

4. Haiyan, one of the deadliest Philippine typhoons on record, killed at least 6,300 people in 2013.

5. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused a combined total confirmed deaths and missing of more than 22,000 (nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing).

№ 473. Vitamin S (Science)

Taiwan scientists find antibody that fights coronavirus.

BUT...

As many experts have reminded us, it will take about 12-18 months AT BEST to have a vaccine. 

Many viral diseases like polio, flu, chicken pox, hepatitis, etc. took many years, even decades, to manage with an effective and affordable vaccine. We will have to put in a community of resources --- time, scientists, governments, funds, cooperation and goodwill, etc. --- to invent another "miracle" of science. 

We need unity in diversity.

AND...

To be philosophical about this collective pandemic experience, it makes me appreciate how wonderful it is to be alive and how truly worth saving humanity is. Because what is the other path? Death? Despair? Descent into chaos?

№ 445. Covid Prescription: Dogs

Broad Sheet

 
What is it about animals? As the bad news about the coronavirus continues, “send me dogs and cats” has become a regular cry on social media, an easy-to-grasp shorthand for “I feel terrible, cheer me up”. The response is always the same: a torrent of pictures of animals doing daft things – but somehow it has a magical, calming effect.

The therapeutic value of our relationship with our pets, particularly dogs, is increasingly recognised by researchers. Cats can be wonderful too – but dogs have been domesticated by humans for much longer, and, as even the most devoted cat lover will admit, dogs are far easier to train for companionship. Most cats, as we know, are admirable for entirely different reasons. Marion Janner, a mental health campaigner and all-round animal lover, says that dogs teach us a whole range of lessons. “Dogs love us unconditionally. They’re the ultimate in equal opportunities – entirely indifferent to race, gender, star sign, CV, clothes size or ability to throw cool moves on the dance floor. The simplicity and depth of this love is a continuous joy, along with the health benefits of daily walks and the social delights of chats with other dog walkers. They teach kids to be responsible, altruistic and compassionate and, valuably but sadly, how to cope when someone you love dies.”

№ 437. The Dark Side of Globalization: Pandemics

All about the Novel Coronavirus

How contagious is the virus?
It seems moderately infectious, similar to SARS.

How deadly is the virus?
It’s hard to know yet. But the fatality rate is probably less than 3 percent, much less than SARS.

How long does it take to show symptoms?
Possibly between 2 to 14 days, allowing the illness to go undetected.

How much have infected people traveled?
The virus spread quickly because it started in a transportation hub.

How effective will the response be?
The W.H.O. has praised China’s efforts, but critics fear lockdown measures may not be enough.

How long will it take to develop a vaccine?
A vaccine is still a year away — at minimum.

№ 279. Stay

Yoko Ono

It burns beneath
the boundaries of your skin
lined against mine.

№ 190. Do the Magic Seven

For now, I swear off these vile victuals. For how long, remains an unknown.

This is definitely for those who have very little time for exercise. Don't we all?

Seven minutes is all it takes. Twelve exercises for thirty seconds each and ten second rest intervals. No special equipment or weights necessary, just a wall, a chair and your own body weight. One important thing: the sequence of exercises is critical.

And there is a science to the magic seven!

№ 67. The Elusive Art (not Science) of Sleep

I get by with just about five hours every day. But I need my power naps to get me going.


Via: Online College Advice

№ 23. 34 and Hopeful ...

A facebook friend posted this blog by a young mom, 34, who's stricken with stage 3 breast cancer. I'm reposting this, just in case, someone might extend some help. Any help.

"I am a healthy, 34 year-old mother who breastfed my son for the first two years of his life. Despite receiving regular check-ups, my youthful age and presumed preventative measures, I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. I hope that this blog will open the eyes, minds and hearts of young women everywhere and change how they think about breast cancer. Please join me on my journey..." from 34 and Hopeful



Bento Box: 

I need to ask a doctor friend about this. Maybe he has a ready answer. How can regular check-ups miss a Stage 3 breast cancer? How malignant is breast cancer that malignant? I thought mammograms are standard for executive check-ups for women, especially beginning a certain age (I overhear this often in the office water cooler, among women friends, of course, and in the hospitals during my annual executive check-ups).

Just wondering about the mysteries of the known universe.

From wikipedia, "mammography is the process of using low-dose amplitude-X-rays (usually around 0.7 mSv) to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through detection of characteristic masses and/or microcalcifications. Mammography is believed to reduce mortality from breast cancer. Remaining aware of breast changes and physician examination are considered essential parts of regular breast care."