Is meditation the answer to cognitive decline? In a study endorsed by the Dalai Lama, individuals who regularly meditate were followed over 7 years. The authors conclude that meditation can enhance mental abilities and protect against age-related cognitive decline. As we age, our cognitive ability slowly slides. The resulting deficits could impact reasoning, memory, and processing speed, among other things. It can also affect our
ability to concentrate and focus. Since people in the United States are now living longer lives, researchers are keen to find ways to keep our brains healthy and alert for longer. To help us retain a sharp focus, scientists have trialed a range of potential interventions — including computer-based cognitive training programs and lifestyle changes. Meditation and mindfulness as interventions have also shown promise. For instance, meditation is considered to
boost a range of cognitive abilities, such as mental clarity, stability, and creativity, while increasing the length of time that someone can hold their focus. Importantly, meditation is easy to practice at home, relatively cost-effective, and unlikely to cause side effects. Several studies have investigated mindful interventions and witnessed certain benefits, such as a reduction in mind wandering. However, few have assessed whether meditation's benefits
can endure over longer periods of time. Meditation over the long-term Over the past few years, an ongoing study has been attempting to fill this gap in our understanding. Scientists from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Center for Mind and Brain have been following a group of people who attended a meditation course 7 years ago. Their study was recently published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement….Read More
Can You Hear Me Now? Senate Bill On Hearing Aids May Make The Answer ‘Yes’ Last December, Deb Wiese bought hearing aids for her parents, one for each of them. She ordered them online from a big-box retailer and paid $719 for the pair. But her parents, in their 80s and retired from farming in central Minnesota, couldn’t figure out how to adjust the volume or change the batteries. They soon set them aside. “Technology is not only unfamiliar but unwelcome” to her parents, Wiese said. “I don’t know what the answer is for people like that.” A bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in March could make it easier for
her parents and millions like them to get assistance. It would allow Medicare to pay audiologists to teach beneficiarieshow to adjust to and use their hearing aids as well as how to manage communication with other people, among other things. Under current law, Medicare generally reimburses audiologists for diagnosing hearing loss in older adults but not for providing assistance to fit, adjust and learn to make the most of hearing aids. The proposed bill comes on the heels of a law signed last summer by President Donald Trump that directs the Food and Drug Administration to establish
and regulate a new category of hearing aid to be sold over the counter for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. People will be able to buy products off the shelf without consulting an audiologist or hearing aid dispenser, and standards for online sales will be tightened. The agency has three years to develop safety and other consumer protection standards. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommendedthat the FDA take that step in a 2016 report. Although it should improve access, the new law doesn’t address one of the biggest barriers faced by the nearly 50
million people with agerelated hearing loss: insurance coverage. Neither traditional Medicare nor most private insurers typically cover hearing aids. (Some Medicare Advantage plans provide some coverage, and some insurers may offer a discount if members use certain suppliers.) “People say, ‘I need hearing aids and I can’t afford them.’ It’s really heartbreaking.”...Read More
Stretching Can Help Get Seniors Moving Stretching leg muscles every day may benefit seniors and other people with mobility problems, a new study reports. Researchers placed splints on lower limbs of older rats to stretch their calf muscles. The splints were placed on one leg for 30 minutes a day, five days a
week, for four weeks. This stretching program increased blood flow to muscles in the lower leg, according to the study published April 4 in the Journal of Physiology. The findings suggest that regular stretching could improve blood flow to leg muscles and improve walking ability in elderly people and others with limited mobility. However, animal studies don't
always produce the same results in humans. "This highlights that even individuals who struggle to walk due to pain or lack of mobility can undertake activity to possibly improve their health," lead researcher Judy MullerDelp said in a journal news release. Muller-Delp is a professor of biomedical sciences at Florida State University. She noted that the researchers
did not test a range of stretches or different time spans. "It is possible that greater stretch or stretch that increases steadily over the four-week period would have an even greater benefit. It is also possible that greater benefit would be seen if the stretching continued for longer," MullerDelp said.
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