Positive relationships boost self-esteem and vice versa

                                                       

                                          

                              Robust reciprocal link found across life span

Date:
September 26, 2019
Source:
American Psychological Association
Summary:
Does having close friends boost your self-esteem, or does having high self-esteem influence the quality of your friendships? Both, according to a meta-analysis of more than two decades of research.

Does having close friends boost your self-esteem, or does having high self-esteem influence the quality of your friendships?

Both, according to a meta-analysis of more than two decades of research, published by the American Psychological Association.

"For the first time, we have a systematic answer to a key question in the field of self-esteem research: Whether and to what extent a person's social relationships influence his or her self-esteem development, and vice versa, and at what ages," said study author Michelle A. Harris, PhD, of The University of Texas at Austin. "The answer to what age groups is across the life span."

The research was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Harris and her co-author, Ulrich Orth, PhD, of the University of Bern, analyzed 52 studies involving more than 47,000 participants (54% female) looking at either the effect of self-esteem on social relationships over time or the reverse effect. The studies, all published between 1992 and 2016, included multiple countries (e.g., 30 samples from the United States, four from Switzerland, three from Germany, two each from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Greece, Russia and Sweden). Participants were 60% white, 2% Hispanic/Latino, 12% other predominantly another ethnicity and 19% mixed ethnicities. Samples ranged from early childhood to late adulthood.

The authors found that positive social relationships, social support and social acceptance help shape the development of self-esteem in people over time across ages 4 to 76. The authors also found a significant effect in the reverse direction. While earlier research had yielded inconsistent findings, the meta-analysis supports the classic and contemporary theories of the influence of self-esteem on social connections and the influence of social connections on self-esteem, according to Harris. The findings were the same after accounting for gender and ethnicity.

"The reciprocal link between self-esteem and social relationships implies that the effects of a positive feedback loop accumulate over time and could be substantial as people go through life," according to Harris.

The authors discuss the idea that positive relationships with parents may cultivate self-esteem in children, which leads to more positive relationships with peers in adolescence, which may further strengthen the self-esteem of emerging adults, and so on into late adulthood. However, the field is still in need of an integrated theory that can explain whether relationships have such a cumulative effect across life, or whether certain relationships become particularly important at certain ages.

When self-esteem or quality of social relationships is low, Harris noted, it can negatively affect the other factor, and set off a downward spiral, making clinical interventions especially important to offset this potentially adverse development.

"The fact that the effect did not differ significantly among studies with different sample characteristics strengthens confidence in the robustness of our findings," said Harris.

"We found a limited number of longitudinal studies on self-esteem and specific relationships in adulthood as well as studies using measures other than self-report, so our findings only begin to speak to these groups, and we look forward to future work oriented towards filling these gaps."


Story Source:

Materials provided by American Psychological Association. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Michelle A. Harris and Ulrich Orth. The Link Between Self-Esteem and Social Relationships: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2019 DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000265

Cite This Page:

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American Psychological Association. "Positive relationships boost self-esteem, and vice versa: Robust reciprocal link found across life span." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 September 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190926092416.htm>.

Christmas Gooey Butter Cookies!

                                                                   

                                     

                                     

Fun to make! Yummy to Eat!

Ingredients

½ cup confectioner's sugar

½ cup sprinkles, divided

1 white cake mix

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
Step 1
Cream together the butter and the cream cheese. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat just until combined. Beat in the cake mix until well blended. Stir in ¼ cup of the sprinkles. Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
Step 2

Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into a 1-inch ball. Sprinkle the ball with sprinkles then roll in the confectioner's sugar until completely covered. Place about 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake 8 to10 minutes then allow to sit on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Click link below to find original recipe and many more holiday recipes!

https://www.recipesrun.com/recipe/3460-christmas-gooey-butter-cookies.html

Decorating a Small Space for Christmas

                                                                     

        It's that time of year...you'd like to decorate your place for Christmas, your small space. How 

much is too much? What size decorations? How, where to place them? 

               

                                           

Smaller items on a table can really make a corner festive, especially when placed in front of a small tree!

                                                        

                                    Welcome guests into your home during the holidays!

Check out my Pinterest to find more ideas for the holidays!

Find my pins on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/maggiemay57/pins/

Senior Moments: How big of a problem is social isolation among older adults?

             
                                                                                     

Senior Moments from H.O.M.E.

How big of a problem is social isolation among older adults?

Bigger than you might think. One just has to look at some of the news articles to know that social isolation is a trend that is only getting worse.

I had the pleasure of presenting Rush Generations members last month, where both Dr. Alexander Sasha Rackman and I both addressed social isolation from our individual perspectives: Dr. Rackman being a geriatrician and myself being a gerontologist and social worker.

Let me first start by saying that social isolation is not just a problem experienced by older adults. It can occur among younger and older people alike.

So, I hope that the take-aways you get from this post will help you initiate a dialogue with friends or family or a primary care physician that helps get someone on the path of either reducing or even preventing social isolation from happening.

I have found that people who are socially isolated often do not even recognize it is happening to them, before it is too late.

Dr. Rackman made a very important distinction between isolation and loneliness.

He described loneliness as subjective in that it is how people perceive their situation and whether they feel isolated.

Hence, one might feel lonely but not be isolated.

Someone who is isolated lacks meaningful and unfulfilling relationships in their lives, has a minimal number of social contacts, and doesn’t feel like they belong.

Some of the risk factors for social isolation include:

a decrease in mobility that limits engagement in social activities
less exposure to opportunities for building relationships
fear of falling or unmanaged incontinence that causes one not to leave their home
limited family or friends, family or friends who live at a distance, being unmarried, and living alone

These risk factors may come as no surprise, but what is surprising is that social isolation is on the rise. Yet, these risk factors have the potential to be addressed if only people were aware of the issue and addressing the issue.

The challenge is that social isolation can go unnoticed if no one is paying attention.

Reports vary with the number of older adults who are social isolated. Some numbers have been as high as forty-three percent (Nicholson, Molony, Fennie, Shellman, & McCorkle, 2010; Smith & Hirdes, 2009).

The Administration on Aging reports that about twenty-nine percent of older adults live alone. Well, since we know that living alone is a risk factor, we, as a society should be thinking of ways to engage and connect these individuals.

If the previous numbers don’t “jump start” you to begin paying attention to yourself and those around you, perhaps the following findings will:

Social isolation is twice as likely to cause premature death in older adults. The mortality rate of socially isolated older adults is comparable to that of smokers.
Social isolation is both bad for one’s health and is costly. AARP and Stanford University found that that the lack of social contacts among people with Medicare cost an estimated $6.7 billion in additional Medicare spending. 
Forty percent of adults admit to being lonely. Reducing isolation could possibly reduce loneliness and vice versa.

intergenerational_theresnoplacelikehomeHere are a few resources to help an older adult stay connected:

CJE SeniorLife’s Virtual Senior Center

H.O.M.E.’s Good Life Senior Residences

Mather Lifeways Telephone Topics

Little Brother’s Friends of the Elderly

H.O.M.E.'s Intergenerational Housing Program is designed to offer engagement that reduces isolation and increases quality of life. As a result, our residents often report that their health improves after they move into our buildings. Residents are also offered opportunities to attend community outings including movies, museums, and shopping. In many instances, our residents refer to residential managers, coordinators, and neighbors as the “H.O.M.E. family,” an extension of their own family and support system.

Posted by Tricia Mullin on Sep 3, 2018 3:06:00 PM

About H.O.M.E.

Founded in 1982, has helped thousands of low-income seniors in Chicago maintain their independence by providing a home repair service, shopping bus, moving program, and three affordable apartment buildings where seniors can live comfortably in an intergenerational environment.

Best-selling album of all time says about baby boomers’ spending power

                                  What the best-selling album of all time says about baby boomers’
                                   spending power     

Sept 2, 2018 10:06 a.m. ET

 
They’re not the ‘Take It Easy’ generation


Michael Jackson fans worldwide are celebrating what would have been his 60th birthday this week, a testament to his enduring reign as the king of pop.

But that title took a hit this month.

Classic rockers The Eagles dethroned Jackson’s 1982 masterwork “Thriller” as the top-selling album of all time when the band’s “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” surpassed 38 million copies sold.

Regardless of what it says about their relative musical talents, the milestone is evidence of the awesome spending power of the generation that’s just a few years older than Jackson’s Generation X fan base: baby boomers.

‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’
Representatives for the band and its music label didn’t have an exact demographic profile of Eagles fans available, but the band formed in 1971, and it’s safe to assume that the bulk of the band’s fans are baby boomers, the group born between 1946 to 1964 and now in their mid-50s to early 70s.

Research has shown that musical taste freezes in your early 30s. That’s how old millions of boomers were when the Eagles were churning out chart-toppers like “Hotel California,” which included the immortal lines “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Most people (69%) who like similar artists of that era — including Eric Clapton, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, and Paul McCartney — are 45 and older, said Russ Crupnick, managing partner of the research firm MusicWatch. And those fans have had ample opportunity to buy the record-setting Eagles’ greatest hits album again and again.

“The millennials may represent the future of marketing, but the future isn’t here yet,” Hubbell said. Millennials are still five to 15 years away or so away from their peak earning years. Hubbell has seen some long-established companies panic when they realize their core customers are now in their 70s and awkwardly try to pivot to selling to millennials. “That’s a wrong move,” Hubbell said. “They should be going after the people who actually have money.”

Read complete article

Moving? Should You Buy or Rent?

                                                                   

By Jane Bryant Quinn, AARP Bulletin

To rent or buy again? That is the question retirees face when it comes to real estate and downsizing.
It's zero hour. You've decided to sell your house and move to something smaller or to another town. As a homeowner, you naturally think of buying again — a house or maybe a condo. But should you? Maybe you should rent instead.

Ownership is solidly entrenched among retirees. They weren't even shaken by the real estate collapse. From the peak of the housing bubble in 2006 to the present, the rate of homeownership for people 65 and up has held steady at about 80 percent, the Census Bureau reports. It runs to over 90 percent among married couples in which one person is 65 or older.

For those 55 to 64, however, it's another story. The portion who own the place where they live has dropped to 76 percent, compared with 81 percent in 2006. Some in this age group switched to renting because they couldn't manage a mortgage anymore. Others, however, rent by choice.


That leads to the question of how to dispose of the proceeds when you sell a house. You can use part or all of it to buy another house or condo, with or without a mortgage. That pot of money is now tied up. You could tap it at some point in the future, by taking a home equity loan or reverse mortgage, but that probably isn't your plan.

Read Complete Article

Press Release Study: Medicaid work requirements and health savings accounts may impact people’s coverage, access to care

                                         

                                               Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health


                                              Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
For immediate release: June 20, 2018

Boston, MA – Current experimental approaches in Medicaid programs—including requirements to pay premiums, contribute to health savings accounts, or to work—may lead to unintended consequences for patient coverage and access, such as confusing beneficiaries or dissuading some people from enrolling, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study will be published online June 20, 2018 in Health Affairs.

“There’s been a lot of recent research showing that expanding Medicaid leads to improved access to care and better quality of care—which suggests that any expansion will be better for public health than not expanding,” said Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health policy and economics at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study. “But our findings suggest that some of the benefits of expanding Medicaid may be at least partially compromised by some of the current innovations in use.”

Under the Trump Administration, which has prioritized increased flexibility for state Medicaid programs, some states have been experimenting with new approaches. Most recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved proposals from Kentucky, Arkansas, and Indiana for the first-ever work requirements in Medicaid, and other states, including Kansas, have expressed interest in following suit.

The researchers sought to assess views about new Medicaid approaches in three Midwestern states with different policies: Ohio, which has a traditional Medicaid expansion without premiums and with minimal cost-sharing; Indiana, which expanded Medicaid coverage in 2015 but which requires enrollees to pay premiums and contribute to health savings accounts; and Kansas, which did not expand Medicaid and where only very poor parents and disabled adults are eligible.

The researchers conducted a telephone survey in late 2017 of 2,739 low-income adults in the three states. The survey gathered respondents’ views on health insurance, access to and quality of care, financial well-being, experiences with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health savings accounts, work requirements, and private vs. public insurance coverage.

The study found:
In 2017, health insurance coverage rates were significantly higher in the Medicaid expansion states (Ohio and Indiana) than in the non-expansion state (Kansas).
Cost-related barriers to care were more common in Indiana than in Ohio. Indiana’s health savings accounts were confusing for many enrollees, with nearly 40% saying they had never even heard of the required accounts and only 36% making regular required payments—meaning that two-thirds of beneficiaries were at risk of losing benefits or coverage for non-payment.
In Kansas, 77% of low-income individuals said they supported Medicaid expansion. Although Kansas is considering work requirements for its Medicaid program, most potential enrollees in the state were either already working or had a disability that prevented them from working. Only 11% of potential enrollees said they would be more likely to seek work if required to do so by Medicaid.


“For both work requirements and health savings accounts, the policies may operate as intended for modest numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries who understand or react to the incentives. But there’s a real risk that even greater numbers of low-income adults will be adversely affected because they don’t understand the new policies, can’t afford them, or get tied up in administrative complexity. For these reasons, it’s critical that there be ongoing independent monitoring of these approaches,” Sommers said.

Other Harvard Chan School co-authors of the study included Carrie Fry, Robert Blendon, and Arnold Epstein.

Funding for the study came from the Commonwealth Fund and the REACH Healthcare Foundation.

“New Approaches in Medicaid: Work Requirements, Health Savings Accounts, and Health Care Access,” Benjamin D. Sommers, Carrie E. Fry, Robert J. Blendon, Arnold M. Epstein,Health Affairs, online June 20, 2018, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0331

Visit the Harvard Chan School website 

University Study Public Release - 'Good cholesterol' may not always be good"

                                                       

                                                     PUBLIC RELEASE: 19-JUL-2018
                                               'Good cholesterol' may not always be good
                     UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOLS OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES


PITTSBURGH, July 19, 2018 - Postmenopausal factors may have an impact on the heart-protective qualities of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) - also known as 'good cholesterol' - according to a study led by researchers in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

The findings, published today in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart Association (AHA), indicate that this specific type of blood cholesterol may not translate into a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease in older women--bringing into question the current use of HDL cholesterol in a common equation designed to predict heart disease risk, particularly for women.

HDL is a family of particles found in the blood that vary in sizes and cholesterol contents. HDL has traditionally been measured as the total cholesterol carried by the HDL particles, known as HDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol, however, does not necessarily reflect the overall concentration, the uneven distribution, or the content and function of HDL particles. Previous research has demonstrated the heart-protective features of HDL. This good cholesterol carries fats away from the heart, reducing the build-up of plaque and lowering the potential for cardiovascular disease.

"The results of our study are particularly interesting to both the public and clinicians because total HDL cholesterol is still used to predict cardiovascular disease risk," said lead author Samar R. El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.H.A., associate professor in Pitt Public Health's Department of Epidemiology. "This study confirms our previous work on a different group of women and suggests that clinicians need to take a closer look at the type of HDL in middle-aged and older women, because higher HDL cholesterol may not always be as protective in postmenopausal women as we once thought. High total HDL cholesterol in postmenopausal women could mask a significant heart disease risk that we still need to understand."

El Khoudary's team looked at 1,138 women aged 45 through 84 enrolled across the U.S. in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a medical research study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). MESA began in 1999 and is still following participants today.
Continue Reading Article

Women Celebrities who Joined the 60's Club in 2018!

         



                                                           

                                                 Madonna (image Instagram/Backgrid

I turned 60 last year and I've wondered about women celebrities who will join the 

"60's Club" this year.

Madonna turns 60 August 16, 2018. 60, sounds so old, until you get there...

So, the photo on the left is a wonderful selfie Madonna took, in a bathroom. The photo on the right was taken late after a night out. Hey, that one on the right is a beautiful as the one on the left!

                                         

                                                                     bustle.com 

Age is only a number. That's something many Twitter users have quickly found out after learning Ellen DeGeneres is turned 60 on Jan. 26. It truly is mind-blowing to think that The Ellen DeGeneres Show (director: Liz Patrick) host could be 60. She has such a youthful spirit that her age is understandably sometimes forgotten by her fans (*raises hand*). Ever since she tweeted on Jan. 20 about her 60th birthday, Twitter users have been reacting quite hilariously. They cannot get it through their minds that DeGeneres is 60 years old.

On Saturday, she tweeted, "I can’t believe I’m going to be 60 this week! I love rating your babies but this week I want to rate the 60 year olds in your life. #EllenRateMy60YearOld."

For those unaware, she regularly has a segment on her daytime talk show called, "Ellen Rate My Baby". On Jan. 8, she even showed a special edition of "Ellen Rate My Baby: Staff Edition." Obviously, she is changing it up in honor of her birthday and wants to "rate the 60 year olds" people have in their lives.

Click on the link at the to Bustle to read the replies on Twitter

*BTW. I think Ellen looks Amazing!

********

                                                            

                                                                    Michelle Pfeiffer 

Michelle Pfeiffer joined the 60's Club April 29, 2018

As her kids grew up, Pfeiffer “took for granted how nice it was to not be under the spotlight,” she told the New York Times. “I remember thinking, ‘Do I really want to step back into [acting]?’ And I just realized that I’m not done. I have a lot more to do and a lot more to say. I’m never going to be one that retires.”

*Michelle is a genuine beauty. She is just as talented as far as I'm concerned!

                                                   

Health News: Synthetic cancer indicator: An artificial mole as an early warning system

                                                                 

ScienceDaily 
Date:
April 18, 2018
Source:
ETH Zurich
Summary:
Researchers have developed an early warning system for the four most common types of cancer. Should a tumor develop, a visible mole will appear on the skin.

Alongside cardiovascular disease, cancer has become the top cause of death in industrialised countries. Many of those affected are diagnosed only after the tumour has developed extensively. This often reduces the chance of recovery significantly: the cure rate for prostate cancer is 32 percent and only 11 percent for colon cancer. The ability to detect such tumours reliably and early would not only save lives, but also reduce the need for expensive, stressful treatment.

Researchers working with Martin Fussenegger, Professor at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, have now presented a possible solution for this problem: a synthetic gene network that serves as an early warning system. It recognises the four most common types of cancer -- prostate, lung, colon and breast cancer -- at a very early stage, namely when the level of calcium in the blood is elevated due to the developing tumour.

The early warning system comprises a genetic network that biotechnologists integrate into human body cells, which in turn are inserted into an implant. This encapsulated gene network is then implanted under the skin where it constantly monitors the blood calcium level.

As soon as the calcium level exceeds a particular threshold value over a longer period of time, a signal cascade is triggered that initiates production of the body's tanning pigment melanin in the genetically modified cells. The skin then forms a brown mole that is visible to the naked eye.

The mole appears long before the cancer becomes detectable through conventional diagnosis. "An implant carrier should then see a doctor for further evaluation after the mole appears," explains Fussenegger. It is no reason to panic. "The mole does not mean that the person is likely to die soon," stresses the ETH professor. It simply means that clarification and if necessary treatment are needed.

The researchers used calcium as the indicator of the development of the four types of cancer, as it is regulated strongly in the body. Bones serve as a buffer that can balance out concentration differences. However, when too much calcium is detected in the blood, this may serve as a sign for one of the four cancers.

"Early detection increases the chance of survival significantly," says Fussenegger. For example, if breast cancer is detected early, the chance of recovery is 98 percent; however, if the tumour is diagnosed too late, only one in four women has a good chance of recovery. "Nowadays, people generally go to the doctor only when the tumour begins to cause problems. Unfortunately, by that point it is often too late."

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Science News Probiotics can protect the skeletons of older women

                                             

June 21, 2018

Source:

University of Gothenburg

 Summary:

Researchers have demonstrated that probiotics, dietary supplements with health-promoting bacteria, can be used to affect the human skeleton. Among older women who received probiotics, bone loss was halved compared to women who received only a placebo. The research opens the door to a new way to prevent fractures among the elderly.

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FULL STORY

For the first time in the world, researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have demonstrated that probiotics, dietary supplements with health-promoting bacteria, can be used to affect the human skeleton. Among older women who received probiotics, bone loss was halved compared to women who received only a placebo. The research opens the door to a new way to prevent fractures among the elderly.

Brittleness of the bones, or osteoporosis, is characterized by porous and weak bones, which can cause them to break even when subjected to low loads, such as a fall from standing height. The proportion of the population with osteoporosis increases with age, and a majority of women over 80 years of age have the disease.

"Today there are effective medications administered to treat osteoporosis, but because bone fragility is rarely detected before the first fracture, there is a pressing need for preventive treatments," says Mattias Lorentzon, who is a chief physician and professor of geriatrics at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

This is the first time that researchers have shown that it is possible to cut age-related bone loss in elderly women in half if they receive health-promoting bacteria, known as probiotics.

Read Full Article

sciencedaily.com

New Research Results! Reversing cognitive impairments in mice with dementia

                                           
                                                               

Date:

June 8, 2018

Source:

Temple University Health System

Summary:

Reversing memory deficits and impairments in spatial learning is a major goal in dementia research. A lack of knowledge about cellular pathways critical to the development of dementia has prevented significant clinical advance. Researchers are breaking through that barrier. They show, for the first time in an animal model, that a drug can reverse tau pathology -- the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's.

The following report is from Science Daily

Reversing memory deficits and impairments in spatial learning is a major goal in the field of dementia research. A lack of knowledge about cellular pathways critical to the development of dementia, however, has stood in the way of significant clinical advance. But now, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) are breaking through that barrier. They show, for the first time in an animal model, that tau pathology -- the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's disease -- can be reversed by a drug.

"We show that we can intervene after disease is established and pharmacologically rescue mice that have tau-induced memory deficits," explained senior investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer's Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer's Center at Temple at LKSOM. The study, published online in the journal Molecular Neurobiology, raises new hope for human patients affected by dementia.

The researchers landed on their breakthrough after discovering that inflammatory molecules known as leukotrienes are deregulated in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. In experiments in animals, they found that the leukotriene pathway plays an especially important role in the later stages of disease.

"At the onset of dementia, leukotrienes attempt to protect nerve cells, but over the long term, they cause damage," Dr. Praticò said. "Having discovered this, we wanted to know whether blocking leukotrienes could reverse the damage, whether we could do something to fix memory and learning impairments in mice having already abundant tau pathology."

To recapitulate the clinical situation of dementia in humans, in which patients are already symptomatic by the time they are diagnosed, Dr. Praticò and colleagues used specially engineered tau transgenic mice, which develop tau pathology -- characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, disrupted synapses (the junctions between neurons that allow them to communicate with one another), and declines in memory and learning ability -- as they age. When the animals were 12 months old, the equivalent of age 60 in humans, they were treated with zileuton, a drug that inhibits leukotriene formation by blocking the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme.

After 16 weeks of treatment, animals were administered maze tests to assess their working memory and their spatial learning memory. Compared with untreated animals, tau mice that had received zileuton performed significantly better on the tests. Their superior performance suggested a successful reversal of memory deficiency.

Read complete article

WHO: Study New Strategy to Improve Vaccination Coverage in Large Cities

                                           

Buenos Aires, June 2018 (PAHO / WHO) .- Officials and experts from eight countries of the Americas met in Buenos Aires to discuss a new strategy to increase vaccination coverage in large cities, taking the DPT3 vaccine as a global indicator -which provides antibodies against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus-, which decreased from 94% in 2011 to 91% in 2015.

During the meeting, promoted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), they warned that 50% of the municipalities of the region do not reach coverage greater than 95% and the problems are particularly relevant in large cities, due to the high population concentration .
"The risk of low coverage is to have imported outbreaks," said PAHO Regional Vaccine Adviser Martha Velandia during the day, which involved representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

During the meeting, promoted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), they warned that 50% of the municipalities of the region do not reach coverage greater than 95% and the problems are particularly relevant in large cities, due to the high population concentration .
"The risk of low coverage is to have imported outbreaks," said PAHO Regional Vaccine Adviser Martha Velandia during the day, which involved representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru.

The advisor explained that all the countries of the region have municipalities with coverage below 80%. "Argentina is increasing the number of municipalities with coverage between 50 and 79% and decreasing those with coverage above 80%," he warned.

In the world, the coverage of the DPT3 vaccine is 86%, but a stagnation is perceived. And in the region, 25 percent of the municipalities have coverage less than 80%, described the advisor in Vaccines.

The meeting was inaugurated by the Undersecretary of Control and Prevention of Communicable and Immunopreventable Diseases of the Nation, Miriam Burgos, who explained that maintaining vaccination coverage became a problem "for many countries", so she welcomed the initiative to maintain a meeting to identify effective strategies.

During the meeting, the participants shared different lessons learned from the countries to improve immunization rates in urban and peri-urban populations and recommendations to develop proposals to improve access and use of vaccines. They also identified effective vaccination strategies especially targeting disadvantaged slum populations in the Americas.

In September 2015, the 54th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) approved the Regional Plan of Action on Immunization (RIAP), as a guiding framework for immunization in the Region of the Americas. This plan, which is in line with the World Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) of the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to continue advancing and overcoming the challenges related to immunization currently facing the countries of the world. the region.

Women Positive Quotes

                                               

 "One is not born a woman, one becomes one." Simone de Beauvior 

  

"Perfect is boring, human is beautiful." Tyra Banks 

  

 "Turn toward the light , it's easy to turn away, women don't choose what's easy." Marjorie Farrington

  

 "The moon brightens the darkness, reflecting light from the sun..be the reflection of light in someone's darkness." Marjorie Farrington

 "Don't be afraid of your own shadow, look at your shadow as your impact on the world around you." Marjorie Farrington

Harvard Business Law : Older Women Are Being Forced Out of the Workforce

                                                 

Below is an article found on the Harvard Business Law website


Many women who feel discriminated against because of their age feel that their only recourse is to sue their employers—but they have a daunting road ahead if they choose to do so.  Even as state and federal laws prohibit age discrimination, a 2009 Supreme Court decision made it much harder for plaintiffs to win by shifting the burden of proof in these cases to them. This creates bookend barriers to senior women who are seeking to change jobs or re-enter the workplace.

For many of the women I spoke with, these challenges arose just as they were freed from the family responsibilities that slowed their career progress when they were younger.  As mothers, they were subjected to assumptions about whether their family obligations interfered with their commitment to work.  And when their children grew up, they raced back into the workforce, only to see their careers stalled by a reduced tolerance for aging women at work.

This observation appears to be backed up by recent research. A study that came out last fall by economists at the University of California at Irvine and Tulane University found “robust evidence of age discrimination in hiring against older women.” The data show that it is harder for older women to find jobs than it is for older men.

The researchers created 40,000 job applications for fictional job seekers and submitted them to a variety of online job postings. They made resumes for older applicants (ages 64-66), middle-aged applicants (49-51), and younger applicants (29-31). After monitoring employers’ responses to these dummy applications, the researchers concluded that the evidence shows it is more difficult for older female workers to find jobs. For example, the authors reported that the callback rate for middle-aged female sales applicants was lower than for younger ​female​ applicants, while callback rates for middle-aged and young male applicants were similar.

The authors suggested two possible theories for why older women may suffer from age discrimination more than older men: one is that age discrimination laws do not deal effectively with the situation of older women who face both age and gender bias; the other possibility touches on society’s focus on the physical appearance of women, a scrutiny that does not seem to similarly impact men. For example, this appears to be playing out in Hollywood, as actresses like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kim Cattrall decry the industry’s lack of roles for women in their 40s and older.

For too long, this nexus between age and gender discrimination has been discussed in whispered anecdotes and quietly filed lawsuits. Although this study is a great step in raising the issue, it is striking how little research actually exists on the topic. In order to address and root out age and gender discrimination, there will need to be more future research scoping out the problem and offering recommendations to fix it, and organizations have to take stock and be willing to make changes.

One in three Americans are 50 or older, and by 2030, 1 in 5 will be 65 and above.  As women continue to outlive men, they are more likely to have increased healthcare needs, are more likely to be widowed, and will have fewer years in the workforce to accumulate post-retirement savings and sufficient social security.

Managers need to recognize and root out these biases against older women to ensure a workforce where all generations are embraced for the talents they bring. For 50 to truly become the new 30, we need a workplace that provides equal opportunities for women.

Susan* is a woman in her 60s who has spent decades working in the insurance business. After years of performance reviews describing her outstanding work ethic, her fortunes turned once she started reporting to a woman 20 years her junior. Under her new manager, Susan felt set up to fail—she was assigned more cases and held to much higher standards than her younger colleagues. Susan’s manager issued a formal performance evaluation that characterized her as failing in her duties.  Although Susan was supposed to have 90 days to improve, her manager fired her after a few days. Susan has since sued her employer for age discrimination.

Below are examples given in this article:

Mary* is a 72-year-old sociology professor with significant scholarship credentials, several teaching awards, and an illustrious record, including three stints as department chair.  Her positive career recognition came to an end when the university hired a much younger dean, who denied her funding to hire needed full-time faculty, accused her of poor leadership, and favored her younger colleagues.  The dean eventually told her that he would not approve an additional term for her to serve as department chair.  Mary filed a lawsuit against the university for age discrimination, which was recently settled.

At the age of 64, Jane* had worked as a bartender at a neighborhood bar for more than a decade. The bar was being sold, however, and the buyers told Jane that she was too old to be a bartender, disparaging her age and gender in front of other employees and customers before the sale was finalized.  They did not keep her on, and instead hired significantly younger women. Jane has since filed suit for age and gender discrimination.

Susan, Mary, and Jane represent a variety of backgrounds and positions, but their stories share a theme that is both commonplace and all too often ignored: senior women are being phased out of the workplace. For the past five years, I have traveled across the U.S., speaking and conducting research on women’s leadership and advancement and bias in the workplace. Hundreds of women in their 50s and 60s have shared their stories of demotions, job losses, and the inability to find another job—outcomes they attribute primarily to their age and gender.  These women often have long histories of career success, but they have seen their responsibilities assigned to younger workers, their compensation lowered for inexplicable reasons, and their career mobility impaired by a workplace that seems to value youth over experience.

World Health Organization: Top Issues Women's Health

                                    
                                             
                                                        Top Issues Women's Health 


I found the following information on the World Health Organization

Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health through the Life-course, World Health Organization
We've come a long way since 1995--and it is time to celebrate women and their achievements. But it is also time to take stock of how women’s rights are fulfilled in the world --especially the right to health. Twenty years after countries signed pledges in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, women still face many health problems and we must re-commit to addressing them.

Issues regarding women's health that keep me awake at night:

Cancer: Two of the most common cancers affecting women are breast and cervical cancers. Detecting both these cancers early is key to keeping women alive and healthy. The latest global figures show that around half a million women die from cervical cancer and half a million from breast cancer each year. The vast majority of these deaths occur in low and middle income countries where screening, prevention and treatment are almost non-existent, and where vaccination against human papilloma virus needs to take hold.

In 2015, in too many countries, “women’s empowerment” remains a pipedream - little more than a rhetorical flourish added to a politician’s speech...

Dr Flavia Bustreo, ADG




HIV: Three decades into the AIDS epidemic, it is young women who bear the brunt of new HIV infections. Too many young women still struggle to protect themselves against sexual transmission of HIV and to get the treatment they require. This also leaves them particularly vulnerable to tuberculosis - one of the leading causes of death in low-income countries of women 20–59 years.

Sexually transmitted infections: I’ve already mentioned the importance of protecting against HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection (the world’s most common STI). But it is also vital to do a better job of preventing and treating diseases like gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis. Untreated syphilis is responsible for more than 200,000 stillbirths and early foetal deaths every year, and for the deaths of over 90 000 newborns.

Violence against women: Women can be subject to a range of different forms of violence, but physical and sexual violence – either by a partner or someone else – is particularly invidious. Today, one in three women under 50 has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a partner, or non-partner sexual violence – violence which affects their physical and mental health in the short and long-term. It’s important for health workers to be alert to violence so they can help prevent it, as well as provide support to people who experience it.

Mental health: Evidence suggests that women are more prone than men to experience anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints – physical symptoms that cannot be explained medically. Depression is the most common mental health problem for women and suicide a leading cause of death for women under 60. Helping sensitise women to mental health issues, and giving them the confidence to seek assistance, is vital.

Noncommunicable diseases: In 2012, some 4.7 million women died from noncommunicable diseases before they reached the age of 70 —most of them in low- and middle-income countries. They died as a result of road traffic accidents, harmful use of tobacco, abuse of alcohol, drugs and substances, and obesity -- more than 50% of women are overweight in Europe and the Americas. Helping girls and women adopt healthy lifestyles early on is key to a long and healthy life.


Getting older: Having often worked in the home, older women may have fewer pensions and benefits, less access to health care and social services than their male counterparts. Combine the greater risk of poverty with other conditions of old age, like dementia, and older women also have a higher risk of abuse and generally, poor health.

When I lie awake thinking of women and their health globally, I remind myself: the world has made a lot of progress in recent years. We know more, and we are getting better at applying our knowledge. At providing young girls a good start in life.

And there has been an upsurge in high-level political will – evidenced most recently in the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Use of services, especially those for sexual and reproductive health, has increased in some countries. Two important factors that influence women’s health – namely, school enrolment rates for girls and greater political participation of women - have risen in many parts of the world.

But we are not there yet. In 2015, in too many countries, “women’s empowerment” remains a pipedream - little more than a rhetorical flourish added to a politician’s speech. Too many women are still missing out on the opportunity to get educated, support themselves, and obtain the health services they need, when they need them.

That’s why WHO is working so hard to strengthen health systems and ensure that countries have robust financing systems and sufficient numbers of well-trained, motivated health workers. That’s why WHO, with UN and world partners, are coming together at the UN Commission on Status of Women from 9-20 March 2015 in New York. We will look again at pledges made in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action with a view to renewing the global effort to remove the inequalities that put decent health services beyond so many women’s reach.

And that is why WHO and its partners are developing a new global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, and working to enshrine the health of women in the post 2015 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This means not only setting targets and indicators, but catalysing commitments in terms of policy, financing and action, to ensure that the future will bring health to all women and girls – whoever they are, wherever they live.

Women Over 60 Staying Healthy: Exercise

                                            Women Over 60 Staying Healthy : Exercise 
                                                                   

Women over 60 who exercise for at least 30 minutes three times per week have the heart, lungs, and muscles of a woman ten years younger. The kind of exercise that you do depends on what effect you want to see. Stretching promotes flexibility, makes movement easier, and decreases the risk of muscle injury; strength training promotes muscle strength and builds up bones; endurance exercises strengthen the heart and improve overall fitness. The best workouts will combine all three types of exercise.

Each time your foot hits the ground you apply a stress to your bones, which respond by maintaining or sometimes increasing their strength, which can be measured in terms of increased bone mineral density (BMD). The higher the impact of the activity contact, the greater the benefit to your bones. This is why weight-bearing exercises that include running or jumping are of greater benefit to your bone health than gentler weight-bearing exercises such as walking.
These exercises encourage mobility and preserve muscle strength and tone.  Try to do each set at least 10 times a day.

Source:

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