Books That Heal the Soul and Inspire the Spirit

My family is coping with the slow deterioration of my father's health. It is difficult to see the daily loss of physical ability and stamina, the seesawing mental accuity -- here this minute, gone the next -- the struggle to do the simplest tasks. It is challenging to deal with the daily frustration and the anger it engenders in him. It is devastating to watch him dying by inches and to see my mother's look of wistful sadness.

I have found comfort and inspiration in reading about the journeys of those who have traveled this path before me. From time to time we all need inspiration or motivation to cope with a serious illness or face the inevitable end of life's journey. Tried-and-true self-help classics that can help us cope with life's challenges were selected by Doctor Bernie Siegel, author of the best-selling Love,Medicine & Miracles: Lessons Learned About Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients and Mary Ann Brussat, co-author of Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life. I hope these books will inspire you as they have inspired me.

• The Power of PositiveThinking by Norman Vincent Peale. This was my father's "bible" as a young businessman and, ever hopeful that I would learn its lessons, he passed his copy to me when I reached the recalcitrant teen years. The 1952 bestseller offers timeless advice on how to boost your self-esteem and achieve personal fulfillment."Faith in yourself makes good things happen to you," preached Peale.


• Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient by Norman Cousins. The 1979 classic self-help book by the Saturday Review editor was the first to explore the powerful connection between mind and body in coping with and fighting serious illness. Cousins "laughed his way out of" a crippling disease by watching Marx Brothers' movies.


• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, MD, PhD. One of the world's most respected psychiatrists, Frankl's 1959 memoir of his years in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps shares the coping mechanisms he developed. "Everywhere man is confronted with fate, with the chance of achieving something through his own suffering," Frankl wrote.


• On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD. The first to introduce the universally accepted five stages of grief, Kubler-Ross wrote this guide to the last phase of life in the late 1960s. She chronicles the final days of life and how they affect the dying, their loved ones and caretakers.


• Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner. Using the fabric and experiences of his own dysfunctional family, Buechner takes readers on his own spiritual journey. His 1991 message is that to heal, you must embrace your total history -- you must peer into the shadows and face the difficult issues and painful memories to achieve spiritual peace.

Travel Tips for Boomers

For the country's 78 million boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), travel is a necessity, not a luxury. Boomers spend more than $157 billion annually on leisure travel, according to a 2005 AARP study, more than any other age group. Health-minded and active, boomers are choosing vacations that marry exercise and leisure, giving birth to a new "silver industry."

Adventure travel packages, health and wellness cruise getaways, cycling tours with bed and breakfast accommodations, and eldertreks to exotic locations are among the new vacation packages being marketed to those who are 50+ but still young at heart. As your doctor tells you at every check up, regular exercise increases mobility and muscle strength and reduces the risk of hypertension, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis and depression.

For tips on keeping active while traveling, visit AARP's website and check out the page, Taking Fitness on the Road. You'll find lots of fitness tips, exercises and resources for travelers. Pack your swimsuit and walking shoes the next time you go on a trip and have some healthy fun in the sun this summer!

Eat Red for Good Health

Red colored foods may strengthen the heart and help fight cancer. Naturally occurring protective compounds, phytochemicals lycopene and anthocyanins are concentrated in red foods. These compounds contribute to healthy plant structures and are thought to do the same for healthy bodies.

• Lycopene. Found in red tomatoes, particularly cooked tomatoes, lycopene protects the body from cancer of the cervix, colon, bladder, stomach and prostate. It increases heart health by boosting the cardiovascular system.
• Anthocyanins. Found in red apples and red wines, it improves cardiovascular health.
• Antioxidants. Found in radicchio, a bitter red-leafed cousin of endive, and strawberries, it absorbs oxygen-free radicals that can damage healthy cells.

Other red foods that promote good health include beets, blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, pomegranates, raspberries, red grapes, red onions, red peppers, red potatoes, ruby red grapefruit and watermelon.

Don't Be Mislead by Sensational Health Headlines

Don't be mislead by health claims promising fantastic results. To avoid jumping on the junk-science bandwagon, apply the four "tests" below from eBuzz.biz -- and always check with your doctor before trying something new.

• Find the foundation. If a research source isn't listed, the claim could be bogus. Check online and review the original study or journal article.
• Apply the time test. A single study doesn't constitute reliable science. To ensure that results are valid, medical experts repeat studies with expanding patient populations. Make sure other studies have confirmed the reported results.
• Question motives. Ask who sponsored the research. Drug companies have a vested interest in producing results that will sell their product. Publish or perish is the mantra of research universities. Researchers may feel pressured to publish early results that haven't been sufficiently validated.
• Delve into details. Read the small print. Look at how many people participated in the study, whether follow-ups were done and over what time period. Check to see who participated. The study may have tested only one demographic, such as white males over 70. Study results could be different in other patient groups. See what the results were in the control group. News and magazine articles may report only key findings. The full findings contain more details and often greater cautions.

Always read medical headlines with a bit of skepticism. Sensational headlines may sell newspapers and magazines, but they don't usually tell the whole story. Apply these four steps for checking the facts -- and always check with your doctor before you decide to try a new product or procedure. Stay healthy; get the facts.

What's in a Name? Depends on Your Face!

Who knew that what you look like can make it harder or easier for people to remember your name? Researchers have found that some names fit our preconceived notions of what a person's face should look like, making their name easier to remember!

If your face fits the stereotype, people you meet will have an easier time remembering your name, said study leader Robin Thomas, a psychologist at Miami University in Ohio.

• Bobs have larger, rounder faces.
• Tims have more angular faces with thinner chins.
• Joshes have longer chins.
• Joes fall in the middle. "The 'average Joe' really was average," Thomas said.

The study involved 450 subjects, most of whom were Miami University students. Using computer graphics that allowed them to choose from 1,000 eyes and eyebrows, 800 noses and 300 face shapes, the subjects created what they felt were typical faces to go with a select list of common and popular names. The created faces were reviewed by a second group to develop a composite face for each name. A third group was asked to match names to faces where it was discovered that it was easier to remember a name when the person's face most resembled the composite. Interestingly, some common names like John, Dan and Matt didn't evoke a strong enough response to be conclusive. It makes you wonder what makes us so strongly associate certain characteristics with some names but not others. Sounds like a good subject for another study!

Genetic Research Holds Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

There is hope on the horizon for pancreatic cancer patients. A particularly deadly cancer, patients generally die within two years. New research by Ohio State University scientists has revealed tiny genes that may lead to better ways of treating pancreatic cancer.

Called microRNAs, the genes take on a different look in a cancerous pancreas when compared to a healthy organ. In addition to developing treatment protocols, it is hoped that further research will enable physicians to more accurately predict how long a cancer patient will live.

The findings are preliminary and more study is needed, but treatment "is not decades away, but probably years away," said Dr. Mark Bloomston, the OSU surgeon leading the study.

In the US this year more than 33,000 people will die of pancreatic cancer and 37,00 new cases will be diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. Genetic research is on the cutting edge of new approaches to understanding and treating cancer and holds great hope for the future.

Weathering the Pitfalls of Retirement to Build a Happy Life Together

Retirement is one of life's great milestones. Like marriage, the birth of a baby, becoming an empty-nester or a serious illness, retirement is an event that can bring a couple closer together but has the frightening potential to drive them apart. Couples talk to each other about getting married, disciplining the kids, going back to work, managing their money, where to take the next vacation -- everything it seems but how they expect life to change when they retire. The problem is that often husband and wife have vastly different plans for retirement.

Retirement threw my parents for a loop. In their marriage Dad managed the business and Mom managed the home. They were each happy having control over their own personal domain. Sure they solved problems and made big decisions together, but they were each the supreme ruler of day-t0-day decisions in their own little kingdom. And they were both happy that way.

Then Dad retired. Without a company and employees to manage, he tried to manage Mom and the house. He wanted to redecorate and get rid of her beloved pink chintz sofa. He wanted to paint the pastel walls deep colors. He wanted to move all the pictures around and create themed rooms. Worst of all, he wanted to reorganize the kitchen, claiming his way would be more efficient. The battle lines were drawn!

They compromised. They kept the sofa but recovered it in a beautiful and more up-to-date floral print that Mom loved. They painted one or two walls in each of the main rooms a deep color but painted the other walls a complementary softer shade. With the exception of a few treasured items, she let him shuffle the pictures around and rehang them in new groupings. He left her curio cabinets and their contents alone. He left the kitchen organization alone, but learned to make bread and soup. And Mom got a part-time job. It's like Erma Bombeck said in one of her books, "I married you for life, not for lunch."

The job kept them out of each other's hair but only delayed dealing with the problem. Five years later Mom retired and Dad's grip on the household was even more firmly entrenched. It took them awhile, but they've finally reached an understanding and have blocked out areas where each gets to be "king." Dad can keep his study any way he wants, and Mom has domain over her craft/work area in family room. Dad stays out of the basement laundry room. Mom doesn't interfere with Dad's organization of the garage. Dad can rearrange the furniture in the living room, but Mom's favorite chair and lamp are off limits. Over the last couple of years they've managed to figure out what's most important to each of them. More importantly, they've learned to recognize and respect the other person's needs.

Most authors and columnists who write about retirement focus on finances, lifestyle or travel plans. The thing is, it's the little everyday frictions that can tear a couple apart. Retirement is like being newly married. After 25 to 30 years of marriage, you're both somewhat different people and you have to get to know each other all over again. It may be hard work, but after everything you've built together over the past quarter century, it's worth investing a little more time and effort in each other to build the next phase of life together.

Dieting Without Exercise Can Create Serious Health Problems

People who maintain their weight through diet alone without exercising may develop serious internal fat deposits that put their health at risk, according to new studies. Internal fat that surrounds vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas could be as dangerous as the external fat bulges that create love handles, thunder thighs, beer bellies and bouncy bottoms.

"Being thin doesn't automatically mean you're not fat," said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London.

Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create "fat maps" showing where people store fat, reports Maria Cheng for the Associated Press. What they've found is that even people who appear to be thin, may be storing dangerous amounts of fat around critical organs. "Even people with normal body-mass index (BMI) scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside," writes Cheng. Fully 45% of the women scanned by Bell had normal BMI scores (20 to 25) but excessive levels of internal fat. For men, the number was nearly 60%.

"Just because someone is lean doesn't make them immune to diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease," said Dr. Louis Teichholz, chief of cardiology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.

A diet rich in fatty, sugary foods and too little or no exercise leads to the build up of internal fat deposits. Doctors are still studying how internal fat affects health, but they believe it contributes to heart disease and diabetes. "Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit," said Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina. Internal fat is easily burned off through exercise, so get out there and start walking!

"Good" Fats Important to Your Diet

Omega-3 is one of the good fats. It may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, arthritis and autoimmune diseases. It's not as hard as you think to increase omega-3 fats in your diet. Diabetic Living magazine recommends adding these foods to your menus to increase your intake of omega-3 fats:

• Walnuts are a great source of omega-3 fat. Eat as a snack; grind them up and use in baking to replace a portion of the flour in recipes; chop and use to top cereal, yogurt or ice cream; add to cookies, brownies or breads. I stir them into my morning oatmeal with a teaspoon of cinnamon, one-half cup of applesauce and a tablespoon of Splenda brown sugar blend. Yum!
• Cook with canola oil instead of vegetable oil. Make your own salad dressings with canola oil for a light, healthy salad. I add it to the Good Seasons packets or shake up my own dressings when I feel experimental. Just add oil, water, your choice of vinegar and spices and shake.
• Tofu is a wonderful source of omega-3 fat. Both Boca or Morningstar Farms sell tofu crumbles in bags. Look for them at your grocers in the same freezer section as the vegetarian burgers. The pre-cooked crumbles make it easy to add tofu to stir fries, soups, stews, chili or sloppy joes instead of using ground meat. I recently used the crumbles to make a fabulous chili that got 4-star reviews from my meat-loving dad and my daughter's vegan boyfriend. Check out the quick and easy recipe below.

4-Star Vegan Chili

1 onion, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons canola oil
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can mushroom stems & pieces, drained
1 can green chilies, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced stewed tomatoes
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used Prego Garden Vegetable, but use your favorite)
1 bag tofu crumbles
Spices to taste: chili powder, cumin, cilantro, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt

In a large sauce pan, fry out onion, peppers and garlic in canola oil until soft. Add all other ingredients including tofu crumbles, stir to blend. Add spices to taste. I started with a teaspoon of chili powder and black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of everything else and went from there, stirring and tasting until I liked it. Simmer for 30 minutes to blend flavors. Serve with grated cheese or cheese substitute for garnish and thick grain bread. Don't be afraid to experiment with the ingredients. Add what you like and delete what you don't.

Hormone Therapy May Forestall Dementia in Younger Women

If taken soon after menopause, new research suggests that hormone therapy may help protect women against dementia. However, if not started until you're older, the drugs can increase the risk of mental decline. While current medical wisdom says that hormone-replacement therapy will not protect you against diseases associated with aging, new findings suggest that the timing of treatment may be a key factor, particularly for heart attacks and dementia.

Released this month at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, experts cautioned that the new study is preliminary. More testing is required before recommending hormone therapy for younger women to stave off dementia. The study was conducted in conjunction with the massive Women's Health Initiative which tracked 7,153 women for breast cancer and heart disease.

In recent studies, there has been mounting evidence that women in their 50s who take hormones close to the onset of menopause may receive a greater benefit and confront less risk than older women. In the study, dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease, was reduced by half in women who took hormones before age 65. Past research has shown that women who take hormones after age 65 experience a 75% increased risk of dementia.

Revolutionary Drug Fights Osteoporosis

A revolutionary bone-building drug dramatically reduced hip, vertebra and other fractures in women with osteoporosis according to a three-year international study. Currently only approved for cancer patients, Zometa (zoledronic acid) may be the miracle drug osteoporosis patients have been waiting for. Novartis Pharmaceuticals is hoping for FDA approval to start marketing the drug for osteoporosis under the name Reclast later this year.

In the recently completed study, the drug reduced overall fracture risk by 33%, hip fracture by 41% and vertebral fracture by 77%. The study was published in this month's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Reclast is administered as a single 15-minute intravenous dose once a year. Currently, bisphosphonates like Zometa and Fosamax are the most popular and effective drugs used to treat the breakdown of bone caused by osteoporosis. Unfortunately, doctors have found that most patients quit taking the drugs after a short time. Novartis, which sponsored the new study, hopes its annual dose will change that. Like a mammogram, it could become part of a woman's annual physical.

There are some significant risks with the new drug protocol. In the study of 8,000 women, a rare, serious heartbeat irregularity occurred more often in women on the drug than on those taking a placebo. The study was also too small to rule out an increased risk of jawbone deterioration which affects 3% to 10% of cancer patients taking more frequent doses of the drug. However, for those with advanced osteoporosis, the significant benefits may outweigh the risks.

Loneliness Increases Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Loneliness and social isolation seem to be at the root of many of the horrific headlines in the news these days. We are social animals and depend on the affection, stimulation and reassurance of our fellows whether we are struggling teenagers, alienated adults, or just lonely seniors. Emotional isolation is a serious problem, particularly as we age. Our spouse dies, our friends start to die, our faculties fail us, we lose our independence, we may have to move in with family in a distant city far from everything we know, or we may have to move into a nursing home with complete strangers.

New research in the Archives of General Psychiatry has linked loneliness to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Social isolation has already been associated with dementia. Living alone, having few friends, participating in few activities with others -- all are behaviors that can lead a person to separate from society and disassociate from life.

Experts define emotional isolation as being dissatisfied with social
interactions, social isolation as lacking them entirely.

In a four-year study that tracked 823 elderly individuals, researches found that people with a high degree of loneliness were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's symptoms. In some way as yet unexplained, loneliness damages the brain, leading to the development of Alzheimer's symptoms, researchers believe.

Loneliness and feelings of isolation are signs of clinical depression which can be successfully treated in 80% of cases. Unfortunately, too many older Americans think depression is a normal part of aging, something they can "handle," and never seek treatment. Depression is not a state of mind. You cannot talk yourself out of depression. It is a symptom of a chemical imbalance in the brain and is highly treatable with a combination of drug and counseling therapies. If you are feeling lonely, or if someone you know seems to have isolated himself, please take them to a doctor or mental health professional for help.