Articles for your Mind
We all know the saying, silence is golden, a belief expressed throughout history. It’s also the title of a 1964 mega-hit recording by Frankie Valli. However, for today’s world, I think the phrase needs an upgrade to platinum. Over the last few decades, in the US, and across the world, noise pollution, or environmental noise […]
When the world grows wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the Garden. Minnie Aumônier This quotation about gardening has lived under the glass on my desk for as long as I can remember. Decades before I became a gerontologist and learned that gardening is good for you—physically, mentally, and spiritually—I have shared […]
If you are like I am, this is a familiar scenario: too often, I put everyone and everything before myself—taking care of work issues, family issues, house issues, pet issues. If any time remains before collapsing into bed, I might read for a few minutes or look at a catalog or magazine. Then lights out […]
Cerebral small vessel disease. You may know it by one of a handful of terms: white matter disease, small vessel ischemic disease, lacunar infarcts, white matter hyperintensities, or Leukoaraiosis. Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) encompasses a group of changes and developments (abnormalities) in the small blood vessels of the brain. Today I want to talk […]
As we age, we lose our ability to handle stress as well as we did when we were young, and left untreated, chronic stress speeds up cognitive decline, and all the various degenerative aspects of aging. Meditation, however, can counter-balance many of the devastating effects of stress on our bodies and protect our brains from […]
We all have sad stories about Alzheimer’s, a disease like none other. I watched my beloved grandmother’s mind evaporate into the ethers until she was nothing but a breathing, weighted imprint on the bed sheet. November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time for us to share those stories and remember. When the first hiccups in […]
Continuing our discussion from last time on good ideas for getting our much needed shut-eye, here are more sleep suggestions for you to consider: 8. Listen to a bedtime story. Load a familiar audiobook on your iPod—one that you know well, so it doesn’t engage you but distracts your attention until you drift off to […]
So how can women over 55 get the healing slow wave activity and REM sleep they need to take over the world?—I mean optimally function in the world? Separating the cow patties from the gems on the internet, the solid gold research points to a number of practices we can adopt to get the REM […]
The National Sleep Foundation Senior Health website recommends for adults 65 and older, 7-8 hours of sleep per night for better cognition, mental, and physical health. Seniors, especially women, suffer from sleep deprivation due to trouble falling asleep. Additionally, women often sleep less deeply, and have less slow brain wave activity (REM)—that body-restoring and rebuilding […]
“Taken together, the results of studies looking at the role of sleep in hormonal, immunological and memory functions suggest that if you do not get enough sleep, you could—besides being very tired—wind up sick, overweight, forgetful and very blue,” says Dr. Robert Stickgold, PhD., at the Harvard Medical School and a sleep researcher focusing on […]
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