A Lego Lesson in Perceived Value

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We recently took a trip to Texas with a trunk load full of old Legos to a Lego store that buys and sells Legos. Our entire intent was to de-clutter and get rid of some old sets and extra pieces. We were ready to donate the stuff. Give it away to Goodwill or another charity.

Well…

A Goodwill in Pennsylvania just sold a rare 14-karat gold Lego piece for $18,101.

Goodwill Listed This Rare Gold Lego Piece for $14.95. It Sold for $18,101 — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-gold-lego-piece-found-at-goodwill-sells-for-18101-180983913

Genius Marketing Stuff

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I post things online because I find them interesting. Sometimes I post things online as a part of my collection of Electronic Sticky Notes, a reminder to myself to try a new recipe like https://spainonafork.com/my-mothers-lentil-stew-with-sweet-potatoes-recipe or as in this case a reminder to go back and listen to the entire interview when I have time. The first five minutes of this video taught me something I never knew about product positioning. The interview is over an hour long so I want to watch and listen in bite size chunks.

Some Cognitive Skills Improve as We Get Older

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When a psychology professor in Michigan looked through his data on interpersonal conflict a decade ago, he discovered something unexpected. The study, which examined differences across cultures and age groups, seemed to show Americans got wiser as they got older. Richard Nisbett was used to research showing poorer mental skills among elderly adults, but his work found they were better at recognizing multiple perspectives, encouraging compromise, and acknowledging the limits of their own knowledge.

Perhaps, he reasoned, navigating conflict got better with age because it was such a specific, experience-based skill. Working memory, which stores short-term facts like newly learned names, may decline but, as people get older, they inevitably accrue more knowledge from having navigated similar situations throughout their lives. Now 82 years old, Nisbett recognizes the improvement in himself. “I’ve noticed situations to avoid, comments not to make, and the importance of apology,” he said.

Presidential age debate obscures a simple fact: Some cognitive skills improve as we get older — https://www.statnews.com/2024/02/22/presidential-election-age-debate-some-cognitive-skills-improve-with-age/

I was going to post this yesterday but I forgot.

Trends in Behavioral Health Medications

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Nurse Practitioners and Behavioral Health Medications Prescriptions

Nurse practitioners had the largest increases in prescribing incident prescriptions across the 5 drug classes. This is consistent with a study that found that behavioral health visits among Medicare beneficiaries conducted by psychiatric behavioral health nurse practitioners increased by 162%, whereas those by psychiatrists decreased by 6% from 2011 to 2019.35 Our study, based on incident prescription data, suggests an increasing contribution of nurse practitioners initiating medication treatment of behavioral health conditions compared with other health care practitioners.

Chai G, Xu J, Goyal S, et al. Trends in Incident Prescriptions for Behavioral Health Medications in the US, 2018-2022. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online January 10, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5045 — https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2813980

Welcome to our new world of self-diagnosed ADHD, online pill mills, and “shortages” of prescription medications.

The past couple of decades have seen a continuous increase in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses. National population surveys reflect an increase in the prevalence from 6.1% to 10.2% in the 20-year period from 1997 to 2016 and experts continue to debate and disagree on the causes for this trend.1

ADHD Diagnostic Trends: Increased Recognition or Overdiagnosis? Mo Med. 2022 Sep-Oct; 119(5): 467–473.– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9616454/

Too Old To Grow Up?

Percentage change in the leading health conditions affecting millennials in the United States from 2014 to 2018 — https://www.statista.com/statistics/1276447/percentage-change-of-the-leading-conditions-affecting-millennials

I was doing my usual Saturday morning routine, catching up on whatever was catching my attention and I came across this Scary Chart looking for ADHD incidence in Millennials. Whoa…check out the early CAD percentage increase.

Diet Until Proven Otherwise

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According to a study published in BMC Medicine, men who ate the most plant-based foods had a 22 percent reduced risk of colon cancer, compared with those who ate the least. Eating a plant-based diet increases consumption of fiber and antioxidants associated with cancer prevention, while simultaneously avoiding the compounds in animal products linked to cancer risk. It has long been known that people who avoid meat are at reduced risk.

The power of nutrition in cancer prevention — https://www.kevinmd.com/2024/02/the-power-of-nutrition-in-cancer-prevention.html

Also schedule that colonoscopy you’ve been putting off.