A lot of interesting food for thought.
Link to article – https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/01/the-rise-in-early-onset-cancers-their-origins-and-what-to-do-about-them.html
Take a Break – 12.30.24
Smartphones, Ultra-Processed Foods, Diminished Family Bonds and Mental Wellness
As mental well-being has remained largely static across the world since 2021, so too have the rankings of countries. At the top of the rankings are many Latin American and African countries while much of the core Anglosphere ranks in the bottom quartile. With national wealth indicators such as per capita GDP negatively correlated with average mental well-being scores (see our 2021 report), this year we have made substantial progress in our understanding of why this is so. Two key findings published in Rapid Reports in 2023 show that younger age of first smartphone ownership and ultra-processed food consumption are two major contributors to our mental health challenges. In wealthier countries, the age of first smartphone ownership is much younger and ultra-processed food consumption much higher. Other contributing factors are the relatively diminished family relationships in wealthier countries that are highlighted in our 2022 annual report. The Mental State of the World in 2023 – https://mentalstateoftheworld.report/2023_read/
Another Sunday morning, just reading and connecting the dots.
I’ve downloaded several of these reports and plan to do a deep dive later.
Read these reports and think about it.
Now do something about it.
No Champagne Required
Writing memoir is a way to extend the amount of time we spend looking back, stretching out our review of the past throughout the year and giving it the attention it deserves. The insights we discover as nonfiction writers are precisely the kind that can ripple into the future, leading us to make real, lasting changes in our lives.
No New Year’s resolutions for me. OK, maybe just one. Write more. Keep writing.
Ugh… Kids These Days!
While cocaine was once the drug of choice, bankers are now reportedly turning to the ADHD medication for work days that can last as long as 22 hours, along with nicotine patches and energy drinks. 90-hour-a-week Wall Street bankers snorting lines of Adderall at their desks – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/15/90-hour-a-week-wall-street-bankers-snorting-adderall-desks/
It never ceases to amaze this Old Underwriter how people manage to find creative ways to kill themselves.
The Gift of Work
It’s a book.
The Gift of Work: Overcoming Workplace Burnout and Finding Satisfaction in Your 9-to-5 by Tarthang Tulka.
Read about Tarthang Tulka at https://www.buddhanet.net/masters/tarthang-rinpoche/
Now read the book. You’re welcome.
Scary Charts – 12.17.24
Household Debt Ticks Up to $17.94 Trillion
Source: https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
Yikes.
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis? Eat Less Omega-6 fats and More Omega-3 fats
To determine whether diet or supplements can play a role in managing prostate cancer, the UCLA-led team conducted a prospective clinical trial, called CAPFISH-3, that included 100 men with low risk or favorable intermediate risk prostate cancer who chose active surveillance. Participants were randomly assigned to either continue their normal diet or follow a low omega-6, high omega-3 diet, supplemented with fish oil, for one year.
The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, show that a diet low in omega-6 and high in omega-3 fatty acids, combined with fish oil supplements, significantly reduced the growth rate of prostate cancer cells in men with early-stage disease.
University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences. “A low omega-6, omega-3 rich diet and fish oil may slow prostate cancer growth.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241213211326.htm (accessed December 13, 2024)
Another reminder I should get my PSA level checked.
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis? Eat More Veggies
In this cohort study of 2062 men with prostate cancer, higher intake of plant foods after prostate cancer diagnosis was associated with lower risk of cancer progression. These findings suggest nutritional assessment and counseling may be recommended to patients with prostate cancer to help establish healthy dietary practices and support well-being and overall health. Plant-Based Diets and Disease Progression in Men With Prostate Cancer – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2818122
This reminds me I should get my PSA level checked at my next annual visit.
Last reading was 0.64 back in 2022.
How To Feel Young at 70 (you read articles like this one)
Sofiya Milman is director of Human Longevity Studies at the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She studies people known as “superagers” —95 and older. “As a group, they have a very positive outlook on life” and are notably resilient, like Jaffe, she told me.
Qualities associated with resilience in older adults include optimism and hopefulness, an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, meaningful relationships, community connections, and physical activity, according to a growing body of research on this topic. A Centenarian Thrives Living Alone, Active and Engaged – https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/centenarian-thrives-living-alone-older-adults/
Hilda Jaffe 102 lives alone and is thriving.
I need to improve my level of physical activity if I want to become a superager.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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