Mind & Mood Archive

Study shows an association between a strong sense of purpose in life and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular problems and blood conditions.

If you believe your life has meaning, it could potentially be longer, says a new study published online May 24 by JAMA Network Open.

Study authors found that among a group of nearly 7,000 adults over age 50, those who scored highest on a scale that measured "life purpose" were less likely to die during the study period, and also less likely to die during the same period from heart, circulatory, or blood conditions, compared with those who scored lower.

Sedative effects of drinking can also initiate other physical responses in the body

Image: KatarzynaBialasiewicz/Thinkstock

Many people think that a little nightcap will help them sleep soundly through the night. Although alcohol's sedative effects can make you drowsy, they also have other effects that can interfere with quality sleep.

Several hours after that nightcap, the alcohol raises the body's level of epinephrine, a stress hormone that increases the heart rate and generally stimulates the body, which can result in nighttime awakenings. Indeed, alcohol may account for 10% of cases of persistent insomnia. Alcohol also relaxes throat muscles, and this relaxation can worsen sleep-related breathing problems and contribute to sleep apnea. What's more, alcohol may increase the need to urinate during the night — just another way in which it can disrupt sleep.

Research we're watching

The World Health Organization has some advice for people who want to reduce their risk of dementia — pay attention to your overall health. Specifically, the organization's new guidelines recommend regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, regulating blood sugar levels, and keeping cholesterol within recommended limits.

Experts also recommend giving up unhealthy habits, including drinking and smoking. In short, strategies that you already know are good for your heart and overall health are also good for your brain. Preventing dementia is a focus because it has become a growing health problem, which affects some 50 million people around the world. The WHO estimates that nearly 10 million people each year develop the condition.

News briefs

Losing a loved one is never easy, and sometimes it can take years to grieve for a partner, parent, or child. That grief often comes with adverse health effects, such as stress, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, and heart problems. But long-lasting grief doesn't come only from a family member's death, suggests a study published online April 4, 2019, by PLOS One. Researchers evaluated questionnaire responses from about 9,600 people who'd lost close friends and found this type of grief can last up to four years. Women in the study were particularly hard hit by loss of a close friend, experiencing more problems with mental, emotional, and social health than men. Study authors say the passing of a close friend should be considered a substantial experience that warrants help (like a support group) to minimize the negative effects of grief.

Our take: Grief of any kind poses a health risk, whether it's due to the loss of someone dear or a dramatic change in life, such as a job loss or a move to a new city. During such times, be especially vigilant about reporting disturbing new symptoms to your doctor.

Many conditions can affect your memory and thinking.

Dementia, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment. These terms are often mentioned together to describe age-related memory loss. While they are linked in some ways, they are not necessarily the same, and they often affect people differently.

"Even though memory loss is more common as you age, it is not part of normal aging," says Dr. Gad Marshall, associate medical director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Either sudden or gradual persistent changes in memory loss and mental lapses can be signs of more serious conditions."

Treating underlying conditions and using helpful strategies may be all it takes to get you back on track.

Reading for pleasure is one of life's great gifts. It's an escape to another world or a path to increased knowledge. Plus, reading about a subject that's new to you challenges the brain, which may help create new brain cell connections. But many aspects of health can affect our ability to read in older age.

Physical changes

Chronic disease and age-related changes can have a big effect on your ability to read. Consider these factors:

How a healthy lifestyle can make a difference in Alzheimer’s prevention.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is characterized by the accumulation of two types of protein in the brain: tangles (tau) and plaques (amyloid-beta). Eventually, Alzheimer's kills brain cells and takes people's lives.

Alzheimer’s causes

What causes Alzheimer's? We still aren't sure. "For 1% of all cases, there are three genes that determine definitively whether or not you will have Alzheimer's, and all three relate to amyloid-beta production, which in these cases is likely the cause of Alzheimer's," says Dr. Gad Marshall, associate medical director of clinical trials at the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "For the other 99%, amyloid and tau are closely associated with Alzheimer's, but many things may contribute to the development of symptoms, such as inflammation in the brain, vascular risk factors, and lifestyle."

News briefs

Here's some relief for people with urinary incontinence who don't want to take pills to treat the problem: behavioral therapy (bladder training) works better for urinary incontinence than medication, according to a study published online March 18, 2019, by Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers reviewed 84 randomized trials of women (average age 55). The studies evaluated 14 categories of incontinence treatments, including pill-free therapy and medications such as anticholinergic drugs — for example, oxybutynin (Ditropan). Most of the strategies (except taking hormones or getting injections of a bulking agent near the urethra) were more effective than doing nothing to treat incontinence. But for both stress incontinence (the kind that makes you leak when you laugh) and urge incontinence (the kind that makes you rush to the bathroom), behavioral therapy was the most effective treatment, beating medications and neuromodulation (electrical stimulation of the nerves that control the bladder). The catch: it takes practice to make behavioral therapy effective. But it may be worth the effort, since medications for incontinence often have side effects.

The three Ms — mindfulness, meditation, and mantras — sharpen work-related soft skills and improve your memory.

Think back to how your mind operated during your work career. Your mental skills were divided into two types: hard and soft. Hard skills related to the technical knowledge you needed to perform a specific job. Soft skills consisted of everyday thinking, like making decisions, being a good listener, and having a positive attitude.

You might not need hard skills as much now, but maintaining soft skills will always be valuable.