Your brain is a muscle, dude. And, just like every other muscle in your body, you’ve got to exercise it if you want it to perform when it’s needed.

Last month, a research team from UC San Francisco (said) that practicing simple visual tasks can improve the accuracy of short-term or working visual memory.

At the same [...]]]> by Richard

Your brain is a muscle, dude. And, just like every other muscle in your body, you’ve got to exercise it if you want it to perform when it’s needed.

Last month, a research team from UC San Francisco (said) that practicing simple visual tasks can improve the accuracy of short-term or working visual memory.

At the same time, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc, provider of AARP’s auto insurance programs for 50-plus drivers, said using (visual) training tools can help older adults reduce the likelihood of being in a car accident.

Basically, what they’re saying is that brains need to be challenged. There are numerous computer programs that are designed to get brains working hard.

Edward Baig of USAToday has a nice roundup of various programs on his blog.

It is difficult for this reviewer to measure such assertions, especially since I’ve been using the programs for days rather than the prescribed weeks and months, and haven’t been schooled in the science. I can say that they’re fun and a challenge, which is important, because I suspect keeping a user engaged is half the battle. The companies all claim their programs are backed by sound science.

No matter which path you choose, get out there and get your brain in gear.

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It looks like those year eating Ding Dongs and quaffing beers might have been a poor life choice after all. According to recent research, it turns out that bulging bellies can be deadly for older adults (hi!) even if they are not overweight or obese.

In one of the largest studies to look at the dangers [...]]]> by Richard

It looks like those year eating Ding Dongs and quaffing beers might have been a poor life choice after all. According to recent research, it turns out that bulging bellies can be deadly for older adults (hi!) even if they are not overweight or obese.

In one of the largest studies to look at the dangers associated with abdominal fat, researchers found that men and women with bigger bellies have twice the risk of dying over a decade when compared to those with smaller stomachs.

Bigger waists carry a greater risk of death even for people whose weight is “normal” by the body mass index, or BMI, a standard measure based on weight and height.

“Even if you haven’t had a noticeable weight gain, if you notice your waist size increasing that’s an important sign,” said lead author Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society, which funded the study. “It’s time to eat better and start exercising more.”

Even better, other research has linked a larger waist size to asthma, breast cancer, heart disease and dementia. Hey, that’s a great slogan: Eat a Ding Dong and die! Or, you know, maybe not.

This is not an isolated problem, dudes. It’s thought that more than half of all older men and more than 70 percent of older women have larger bellies than are good for them. It’s a (you should pardon the pun) growing problem in that waistlines have been expanding by about an inch per decade since the 1960′s.

Four extra inches around the waist increased the risk of dying from between 15 percent to 25 percent. Oddly, the strongest link — 25 percent — was in women with normal BMI. Removing belly fat surgically doesn’t lead to health improvements. That may mean it’s simply a stand-in for some other culprit that is causing both belly fat and poor health.

So, the big question: Is your waist too big? Here’s how you check.

Wrap a tape measure around your waist at the level of your belly button. Don’t even think about sucking it in, either, lard dude. Men should have a waist circumference no larger than 40 inches while women shouldn’t have bellies bigger than 35 inches. Pregnancy excepted, of course.

For all you dudes out there hanging your heads in despair, what do you do about it? Well, that’s something I’ll come back to tomorrow.

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You know the very, very new and (I’m hoping) true saying: 50 is the new 30. No, we’re not talking about making significant changes to math as you used to know it. We’re talking age.

Basically, the thought is that with better preventative health care, good foods, the knowledge of how to get good exercise and [...]]]> by Richard

You know the very, very new and (I’m hoping) true saying: 50 is the new 30. No, we’re not talking about making significant changes to math as you used to know it. We’re talking age.

Basically, the thought is that with better preventative health care, good foods, the knowledge of how to get good exercise and all that jazz, people are living healthier lives for longer periods of time. Not necessarily longer, but better.

According to a new survey, it seems like that might be true. Or at least part of it.

An analysis of a 2008 Gallup poll, which surveyed more than 340,000 adultes ages 18 to 85, suggests an antidote to feelings of stress and worry.

In general, feelings of well-being are high among older teenagers, but fall sharply through age 25, meander for 10 years and then drop off again until about 50. That’s when things start looking up.

By age 75, you may be feeling like a teenager again, at least in your sense of well-being. It keeps getting better until at least age 85, the study showed.

Actually, this seems to make sense. The older teenagers are teenagers, so, of course, they see themselves as invulnerable and immortal. Of course they’re going to be feeling good. Then they start to age and, as they do so, they realize they can’t go out and party hardy like they used to. They’re getting aches and pains in places they didn’t even know they could get aches and pains. They’re into the working world and finding out it’s not all beer and skittles.

Once we get to around 50, though, although that’s when the feelings of well-being start nudging back up, I think this might be the sad part.

See, I think by about 50 you’ve begun to come to terms that your body is failing. You really aren’t the young stud you remember. You have learned to adjust your expectations for what your body can do and can’t do. You’ve lowered the bar. And you feel good about it.

Of course, by the time dudes reach 85, we can’t remember what you had for a shower, much less anything bad. Why shouldn’t you have a feeling of well-being?

At least we’ve got something to look forward to other than making sure we have a nice plot at the end.

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