In the current study, more than 3,500 adults (mostly non-Hispanic white) over age 60 were randomly assigned to take a daily multivitamin supplement or placebo for three years. At the end of each year, participants performed a series of online cognitive assessments at home designed to test memory function of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is affected by normal aging. The COSMOS-Web study is part of a large clinical trial led by Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard called the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS).
By the end of the first year, memory improved for people taking a daily multivitamin, compared with those taking a placebo. The researchers estimate the improvement, which was sustained over the three-year study period, was equivalent to about three years of age-related memory decline. The effect was more pronounced in participants with underlying cardiovascular disease.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Multivitamin improves memory in older adults, study finds.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230524181916.htm (accessed May 25, 2023).
Quote for Today – 05.20.23
“Writing memoir may bring ways of seeing the past from an angle that changes it a bit, moments you had forgotten that show up. If you have these surprises, maybe you are thinking of avoiding them. Don’t. Because part of the deal in memoir is having to face things you’d rather not know, especially about yourself. We all have things we’ve buried, if they appear you need to dig them up and take a look at yourself from what may be an unattractive angle…So it has to all come out and get looked at honestly. If it belongs, then it goes in the book. If not, then we’ve learned something worth knowing about our role in our own lives, and in the lives of others. It’s about clarity, which really is the best gift we could give ourselves, and as it turns out, it is useful to others.”
Abigail Thomas
Quotes for Today – 05.19.23
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
Lawrence Pearsall Jacks, educator and Unitarian minister.
“I love playing, it’s just part of me now, and it was then, at 13. I had the dream to play drums, and I ended up being that person, and I’m still that person.
Ringo Starr – 82 years young
Like I said, I think (I am) Flunking Retirement
It Is My Version of Events
This is not truth.
It is my version of events.
It is how I remember it happened.
It is how they remembered how it happened.
It is an oral history.
It is what someone dares say on the record.
It is the story of someone who wants to […]
The Treachery of Words — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog – By Kristina R. Gaddy
Read this entire post.
One day my words will be as well written.
One day…
Bobi Just Had His 31st Birthday
Remember Bobi? Meet Bobi, the World’s Oldest Dog
Bobi had a birthday.
Bobi eats only human food.
Bobi, who only eats human food, has far exceeded the usual 12-14 year life expectancy of his breed, Rafeiro do Alentejos.
Owners of ‘the world’s oldest dog’ Bobi reveal secret to his long life as he turns 31 — https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1770113/owners-world-s-oldest-dog-bobi-long-life-dxus
I really want to know exactly what Bobi eats.
Elder Abuse
Most of the time I just delete shit like this. Then, unsurprisingly I get another text.
What chat? Why do I feel like I’m being targeted?
HomeVestors, the self-proclaimed “largest homebuyer in the United States,” goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from the hedge funds and YouTube gurus that have taken over large swaths of the real estate investment market. The company says it helps homeowners out of jams — ugly houses and ugly situations — improving lives and communities by taking on properties no one else would buy. Part of that mission is a promise not to take advantage of anyone who doesn’t understand the true value of their home, even as franchisees pursue rock-bottom prices…HomeVestors cautions its franchisees never to take advantage of sellers who are unable to understand negotiations. But by the time he left that evening, Evans had a contract to buy the house for roughly two-thirds its value, signed in Casanova’s shaky script.
The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses” — https://www.propublica.org/article/ugly-truth-behind-we-buy-ugly-houses
Full disclosure – I have no clue who sent me these text messages and the source may not be HomeVestors.
Please read then share the entire article. You can’t be too safe nowadays.
The more I think about this form of elder abuse the angrier I get. Then again, maybe I did have a conversation about a different property.
This text message was for a property I don’t own.
Just Another WFH Saturday
I’m actually not WFH (working from home) today but reading about WFH. And I learned some new things about the world today. One of my favorite tidbits of unsolicited advice comes in the form of this question:
Do you live to work or work to live?
As Gartner research shows, workers want a more “human value proposition,” with 65% of survey respondents agreeing that the pandemic made them rethink the role that work should have in their lives. For all of our talk for decades about work-life balance, people finally feel in their bones what that means. The big question has shifted from “How does life fit into work?” to “How does work fit into life?”
How to Motivate Employees When Their Priorities Have Changed — https://hbr.org/2023/05/how-to-motivate-employees-when-their-priorities-have-changed
Nice to see others coming around to my way of thinking. The strongest motivation I had to establishing a WFH life was to not have work dominate my entire life. Not once have I felt lonely working in my home office. But apparently some WFH people get lonely.
When I first made the switch to working remotely, I was elated. I had been commuting for years, which regularly constituted 12 or more hours stuck in traffic each week and resulted in incalculable levels of stress and frustration. When I began working from home, in addition to regaining my lost commuting hours, I loved my new ability to focus on my work without the distraction of an open-plan office environment.
However, as time progressed, I started to feel lonely. I was able to laser-focus on my work, but my interactions with others were driven solely by virtual meeting agendas or email. I noticed I was becoming less enthused and more withdrawn. I spent too much time scrolling social media because I was silently craving connection with others. I was slowly but steadily becoming isolated.
Is Your Remote Job Making You Lonely? — https://hbr.org/2023/05/is-your-remote-job-making-you-lonely
Maybe you should turn your camera on during meetings.
A recent survey of 4,200 work-from-home employees found that 49% report a positive impact from engagement when their cameras are on during online meetings, and only 10% felt disengagement from turning on cameras. As leaders are figuring out hybrid and remote work, they are facing the challenge of deciding whether to encourage employees to keep their cameras on during meetings. This decision has a significant impact on communication, engagement and trust-building within the team. I can attest to that from my experience helping 21 organizations transition to long-term hybrid work arrangements.
The Pros and Cons of ‘Cameras On’ During Virtual Meetings — https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/the-pros-and-cons-of-cameras-on-during-virtual-meetings/450959
Then again, there may be a good reason why people have their cameras off.
A May 2022 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that the number of working age Americans (25 to 54 years old) with substance use disorders has risen by 23% since pre-pandemic, to 27 million. A figure that’s about one in six of people who were employed around the time of the study. It’s caused a 9% to 26% drop in labor force participation that Karen Kopecky, one of the authors of the report, says continues today.Drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson concluded from a November 2021 survey that about 20% of US workers admitted to using recreational drugs while working remotely, and also to being under the influence during virtual meetings. Digital recovery clinic Quit Genius found in August 2022 that one in five believe that substance use has affected their work performance, also according to a survey.
Remote workers with substance use disorders face ‘rude awakening’ in return-to-office mandates — https://fortune.com/2023/05/13/remote-workers-substance-use-disorders-return-to-office-mandates/
OK, enough about WFH. Time to get back to thinking about retirement because (I am) Flunking Retirement.
(I am) Flunking Retirement
Participants with the most positive views of aging were living, on average, 7.5 years longer than those with the most negative views. 90%: the percentage of centenarians who were functionally independent in their 90’s.
People who live long lives can teach us how to live healthy lives.
Flunking Retirement – https://ysph.yale.edu/about-school-of-public-health/communications-public-relations/publications/public-health-magazine/article/flunking-retirement/
The source article is an interview with two Yale alumni who are still working at the age of 82. Both are youngsters when compared to…Willie who just turned 90 and still working.
SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators)
SARMs, which are chemical substances that mimic the effects of testosterone and anabolic steroids, are not FDA approved. Online vendors and social media influencers are using social media to make SARMs seem safe and effective.
The reality is SARMs are potentially dangerous. The FDA continues to receive adverse event reports associated with SARMS use. The real number of consumers experiencing adverse events is likely higher due to underreporting. Because these are not approved drugs, consumers may be reluctant to report adverse events or may not be aware that they can report adverse events that they experience. In addition, they might not know that their symptoms are being caused by the product.
Studies and reports show SARMs are associated with serious or life-threatening health problems, such as:
FDA Warns of Use of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) Among Teens, Young Adults — https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/fda-warns-use-selective-androgen-receptor-modulators-sarms-among-teens-young-adults
- Increased risk of heart attack or stroke
- Psychosis/hallucinations
- Sleep disturbances
- Sexual dysfunction
- Liver injury and acute liver failure
- Infertility
- Pregnancy miscarriage
- Testicular shrinkage
If you’ve read this far, congratulations. Now spread the word.
Tirzepatide (another GLP-1 receptor agonist post)
Tirzepatide Reduces Appetite, Energy Intake, and Fat Mass in People With Type 2 Diabetes — https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-1710
To reduce the number of clicks the rest of this post is a repost of April Fools 2023 (this is a GLP-1 receptor agonist post). Enjoy!
Ozempic and a similar drug, Wegovy, are weekly shots you give yourself that cause the body to produce insulin. Insulin lowers blood sugar, slows digestion and makes people feel full. Carter-Williams tried it and was amazed.
“You are not hungry,” she says. “Like, I actually have to set timers to make sure that I do eat, because otherwise you actually forget to eat.”
‘You forget to eat’: How Ozempic went from diabetes medicine to blockbuster diet drug https://www.npr.org/2023/04/01/1166781510/ozempic-weight-loss-drug-big-business
Everyone wants the easy way out. I sometimes forget to eat but not because of a miracle drug. You wonder if those of us wanting to lose weight know you can’t stop taking this drug once you start it.
Patients discontinuing the use of weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy risk regaining their original body weight in about five years, a Novo Nordisk official said on Wednesday.
Novo Nordisk Says Stopping Obesity Drug May Cause Full Weight Regain in 5 Years–https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/990267?src=rss
Side effects?
Just a few https://www.wegovy.com/taking-wegovy/side-effects.html
- Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer.
- Inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis)
- Gallbladder problems
- Increased risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) in patients with type 2 diabetes, especially those who also take medicines for type 2 diabetes such as sulfonylureas or insulin
- Kidney problems (kidney failure)
- Serious allergic reactions
- Change in vision in people with type 2 diabetes.
- Increased heart rate
- Depression or thoughts of suicide.
So if you want to lose weight by taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist remember the risks of side effects including the real possibility of having to take a drug that costs up to $1600.00 a month for the rest of your life.
Good luck with that. This joke’s on you.
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