ReBootYourLifeToday

There’s Switches on My Genes???

I thought I got my flat feet from my father and my hypertension from my mother and that was that. Now the plot thickens.  Enter the Epigenome.  In 2003 the human genome was finally decoded and we had a blueprint of the genes (DNA) to make a human being. Now the scientists have found there’s another piece to the blueprint and that piece can move.   The scientists have discovered that our genes have “switches.”  These switches actually turn genes on or leave them off.  It’s this newly discovered part of our genome that is called the Eipgenome.

“So what”, you say.  There’s a lot of “so what” here.  Apparently these switches can mean the difference between getting cancer or a ton of other diseases, or staying healthy.  In other words, we all carry bad/rouge genes for disease or unusual physical or emotional conditions.  If the switch on a bad gene is flipped, we get the disease.  If the switch stays in the off position, we stay healthy.

Now the question is: What makes a switch flip? To me this is the most interesting part.  Apparently our experiences growing up and how we handle the stress and challenges of our lives as adults is the answer.

In the PBS NOVA program entitled Ghosts in Our Genes (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html)it showed that scientists worked on mice to see if a difference in mothering skills had an effect on the baby rat’s development and their future lives.  The baby mice that were attended to gently and carefully by their mothers grew up to be better able to cope with stress, more sociable and most importantly, healthier throughout their life time.

Another angle was shown in studies of identical twins who, of course, are born with identical genomes.  But studies of older twins show their identical genome changes dramatically over time.  A study was done with 66 year old identical twins.  When their genome was studied it was found their DNA no longer looked at all like that of identical twins.  One twin had in fact developed a rare form of cancer while the other had remained healthy.  The sick twin had experienced a difficult life with several marriages and many financial problems.  The other twin had a far more stable life with a solid marriage and several grown children.

Now we have scientific proof that how we live our lives has a great impact on our genes. Who knew?   Now we can clearly see that our experiences, like traumas as a child, or many hard knocks through life, can set us up for DNA changes that can flip some bad switches.

Interesting stuff.

Senior Moments – Ha – Fergetaboutit!

In seminal studies by scientists at the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia, it was found that a lot of what was believed about the aging brain is bunk!

Newsweek Magazine reported in their June 28, 2010 issue that many recent studies have shown that:

· “Much of what we know about the aging brain is influenced as much by the authors’ preconceptions and attitudes as by systematic evaluation of solid data.”

· Timothy Salthouse, PhD of the University of Virginia concluded 2 things in his latest research:

· “First, much of the data we have is based on psych lab experiments. In real life people rely on mental abilities that stand up very well to age and people discover work-arounds for the mental skills that do fade.”

· “Second, is that some mental abilities actually improve with age. One of those is something we call wisdom. Another is our ability to increase vocabulary.”

Insights like these are producing a dramatic rethinking of what happens to the mind and brain as we age. Some of the bad news findings are being questioned as scientists discover that the differences between today’s 20 year old brains and 80 year old brains reflect something other than simple age, and instead has to do with how people live their lives.

Americans spend $13 million a year on brain-fitness software, games and the like. These include memory games, cross word puzzles, and reaction time improvements techniques. These products do increase performance on the issue they train. But there is no evidence that the games improve brain function overall.

What does support mental acuity as we age is the same thing that is good for your heart, lungs, immune system and muscles:

Aerobic exercise such as brisk walking. At the University of Illinois Art Kramer, PhD found that 3 brisk 40 minute walks a week over six months improves memory and reasoning. It also spurs the birth of new brain neurons and increases the white matter which connects neurons in the areas responsible for high functioning brain activities. Of course, walking is free which gives us another reason to get off the couch.

It looks like we can forget about excusing our lack of brain acuity by saying we’re having a “senior moment” or some other cutesy way of saying, “I’m losing my marbles” and start taking a hard look at how we live our lives.

The studies seem to show there are three things that take a big toll on our brain’s ability to stay sharp. They are:

· Lack of exercise - Our bodies were meant to move. We need to engage in many activities that move our bodies. Joining a gym works for many people. But if gyms are not for you, there’s lots of everyday sorts of activities from walking to gardening, to playing tennis, swimming, dancing or anything else that keeps us off the sofa and on our feet.

· Alcohol – A glass or two of wine is OK, but if you drink more than that on a daily basis the alcohol tends to saturate the brain and do serious damage to the brain’s ability to remember important facts, focus, think logically, or problem solve. Alcohol is a depressant so it’s short term effects may be uplifting, but the long term effects promote depression and produce brain chemistry changes which are devastating to the brain’s ability to function.

· Lack of Purpose – People who have a strong reason to get out of bed every day keep their brain in top condition. That’s why a professor of micro biology who is 90 years old can stay on top of his rapidly changing field and give insightful, interesting lectures to his students. Feeling stuck in a going nowhere life leads to brain decline.

The bottom line seems to be: It’s not about getting older. It’s about how well we’ve learned to live a purposeful healthy, life giving life.

If It Bleeds It Leads

My grandson who is a first grader got a final assignment before summer.  He was to chose 5 letters from the alphabet and write a story using words beginning with those letters.  He called to read me his cute little tale about how much he’d love to have a dog.

 His call was coincidental as I’d been thinking about words and how powerful they are.  It seems so much of what we hear today from political debate to reality shows is mean spirited, full of criticism and derision.  

Years ago in Journalism 101 I learned the motto of every newsroom is, “If It Bleeds It Leads.” In other words, bad, nasty news sells.   It sells so well that it’s all we get.  Today we have things that were non-existent when I took Journalism in college.  We have a 24 hour news cycle, video cameras on cell phones and You-Tube.  So we’re constantly surrounded by bad news.  

Just for fun I tried to think of some good news.  I started by looking up how many babies are born every day in the US.  Answer is about 11,000.  Babies are our future and although not always expected, are on the whole very good news.  By contrast I looked up how many people are murdered every day.  Answer: 45.  In a country of over 300 million people 45 is a miniscule number, but which do you think will get the most news coverage?   

According to the Commerce Department 600,000 new small businesses are started in the US every year.  I know 7 million people lost their jobs as a result of the Bush era and many are still suffering.  But wouldn’t it lift everyone’s spirits if some attention were paid the 600,000 new businesses that brave, visionary people are starting?   

Every year 80 top students are chosen to become Rhodes Scholars.  Do we ever see profiles of these remarkable young students?  No, we hear an endless listing of Tiger Woods’ mistresses.   The number of heart attacks and the mortality rate for heart attacks has been dropping since 1995. Do we ever hear about that?   I could go on and on.  But you get the idea.   

There’s a lot more good news generated every day than anyone who lives in our society would believe.   I think all that bad news wears us down – at least it wears me down, so I decided I’d start looking for good news everywhere I go.   I don’t go to state dinners at the White House, and my input is not solicited at the G-20 Economic Summit, so I have to find my good news in everyday happenings.  For example, when I picked up my cleaning, Evelyn who owns the cleaners, told me her son had just been admitted to medical school.  I know the kid and I was proud of him too.  My 86 year neighbor just had his hip replaced.  He’s recovering very well and told me he’d soon be back on his treadmill and walking 5 miles a day.   

The first grade grandson who wrote the story about wanting a dog, has a brother who just graduated from pre-school.  One of the songs the kids sang at their graduation program was about leaving the world a little better than they found it.  I think that’s an outstanding goal for all of us.  So I’ve turned looking for good news into a daily adventure.  I’ve heard some great stories and then I make a point of spreading the good news.  I try to tell at least one other person about every piece of good news I hear. 

The stories I hear are hardly Breaking News on CNN.  They’re personal experiences that are important to a small number of people.  But life is like that.  It’s made up of moment in time experiences.  Looking for good news is fun and it makes me feel like I’m making the world a bit better.  If you find good news stories send them to me, I’d love to hear them!

So What’s Up With This Cougar Thing? It Empowers All of Us – That’s What

When Mrs. Robinson seduced Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, it was 1967 and people were shocked.  Today the older woman, younger guy romance is far more common and I say, bravo to all those women who defy conventional wisdom.  We’re supposed to age gracefully, not take up with a younger man.  Being a cougar is empowering for women even if they’re happily married with no desire to step out. A cougar makes all of us feel like we could still be in the game, if we wanted to be - that’s empowering.  

Conventional wisdom is so overwhelmingly disempowering for the mature woman, that any new trend that alters that so-called wisdom, is important and should be welcomed. The disempowering messages are so common they become part of our own belief system: “I can’t start a new business because I’m too old.  I can’t go back to college because I’m too old. I can’t find a new man because I’m too old.”  The “I’m too old” line is so common in our culture that it is easy to miss the harsh disempowerment it leaves with women. 

That’s why we need cougars! 

And there’s good news, A 2004 AARP survey of 1147 people who divorced in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s found that women initiated late-life divorces more often than men did.  Those women felt strong enough to start a new life after many years in a marriage that apparently didn’t suit them.  Society says we’re supposed to be grandmothers, fade into the woodwork and most of all, we’re supposed to shut up.  Fortunately, times, they are a’changen.

 

Deirdre Bair author of "Calling It Quits: Late-Life Divorce and Starting Over" interviewed 126 men and 184 women.  She found that divorce meant not failure and shame, but opportunity to these late in life divorced people.  Ms. Bair wrote a recent article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/opinion/04bair.html?src=me&ref=general  in  which she wrote, “The men and women I interviewed insisted they did not divorce foolishly or impulsively.  They simply wanted time to find out who they really were.  Many stories ended with some rendition of, It’s my time and if I don’t take it now, I never will.”  One of the most interesting things Ms. Bair found was that women who wanted a new partner found one within 2 years.  So much for, “all the good men are taken or gay.”

 

Al and Tipper Gore’s break up has created a lot of fuss.  I must admit that I too felt sad, that this met in high school marriage which lasted 40, is over.  But, the Gores seem to be part of a new trend in which people, both men and women, are wanting their mature years to be fulfilling and adventuresome.  That’s an important and new part of what our expectations should be for our mature years.  Shutting up and aging gracefully seems to be falling by the wayside.  That’s a good thing.

What's it take to be healthy and fully functioning when you're really, really old?

 

• Just finished reading The Blue Zone by Dan Buettner – great read that was, at least for me, a change your life book.  The book is well written and studies 4 places in the world where people routinely live to be 100 years old in healthy, functioning bodies.  They studied Sardinia, Okinawa, Costa Rica and, of all places, Loma Linda which is 60 miles east of Los Angeles.  The people of these 4 regions represent an amazingly diverse cross section of humanity.  
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•  But they had some things in common and that’s where the change my life part comes in.  (I’m not all that interested in living to be 100, but I’m passionate about living in a healthy body all the years of my life.)
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• Here are the things that all these 100+ folks, had in common:
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• Purpose - They all have a strong reason to get out of bed every morning.  One man from the Loma Linda community was a 91 year old heart surgeon who still assisted in open heart surgeries 3 times a week. He also drives 2,000 miles a month on the Southern California freeways at night.  A woman in a village in Okinawa at 102 was a highly respected shaman and  consulted almost daily with villagers about  their problems.  Another Loma Linda resident used her nursing skills to work at the local hospital giving physical therapy and massage to patients.  She, at 100, is far older than almost all her patients.   All these people felt they made a big difference and their life was important.  
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•  Hard Physical Work – All of the people interviewed in the book did hard physical work.  The heart surgeon built his own 8 foot high fence at the rear of his property.  He dug into the clay dirt to sink his fence posts into concrete and hammered every board by hand.  The nurse woke up at 4:00 a.m. so she’d have time, before going to work, to do her exercise routine which would put me to shame.  She lifted weights, put in 30 minutes on the stationary bike and walked the stairs 10 times. Almost all the centurions kept a large garden and did all the digging, planting, and weeding themselves.  They also ate much of what they grew.  All spent time outdoors everyday which gave them their quota of sun so they got all the vitamin D needed to stay healthy.
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• Relaxation – I was especially interested in the Loma Linda community as they are more or less ordinary Americans.  I could relate to them more directly than I could the villagers in Sardinia.  The Loma Linda folks are Seventh Day Adventists and live by the rules of their religion, one of which is to observe the Sabbath .  In other words, they take the weekends off.  Of course what they do for relaxation is important too – no raging partying here.  And no lazing on the sofa watching sports either.  They spend the time with their families and in community activities.  They do a lot of mentoring of young kids in need and other “give back” activities which their religion encourages.  Not only does this give them a break from their daily routine, it added to the purpose of their lives.
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• Diet – Regardless of the region studied, all the people ate lots of fruits, veggies and nuts.  None ate much, if any meat.  They ate stuff from their own gardens or produce grown locally.  I love meat, but I’ll have to make some changes.  The changes are worth it to me to keep my health. The Loma Linda folks have a huge variety of nuts for sale at the local grocers and use them as their most common snack food  – no chips, pop tarts, sodas or nachos here. 

 

There you have it.  If we want to keep our health, most of us have to make some fairly big changes in our daily lives.  But as The American Association’s motto goes: If you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.  I think If you lose your health, nothing else matters.  So at least for me, I’ll make the changes!

Why Kick the Stuffings Out of Old-Ladyhood? Because it makes good financial sense!

• A friend always says she wears her wrinkles and gray hair as merit badges. She’s a great human being and I’m proud to be her friend, but she’s been job hunting for the last 9 months. Those “merit badges” have a very high dollar cost. I know the job market has been horrible, but this woman has exceptional experience in a niche field where there is still high demand. She should have several job offers.
• While waiting in the dentist office I leafed through a beauty magazine devoted to make-overs. (It was either that or Modern Dentistry). And it occurred to me that my friend would have a much better chance at a new job if she got rid of the gray hair and some of the wrinkles. In the before pics the made-over women looked frumpy and “older” and a lot better in the after photos. Yes, it was shallow. But I got to thinking there’s an economic cost to old-ladyhood.
• A new hair color, make up and some new clothes are going to get me a new job or fatten up my 401K? Come on, get real…
• OK, here’s my thinking: Like it or not, the face we show the world is how we’re judged. Of course, having a good heart, integrity and many achievements are of great value and much deeper than crow’s feet. But we’re still judged by how we look. We live in a youth oriented society where older is never better - it’s just old especially if you’re a woman.
• Consider the following:
• If you’re in a well paid job your appearance is really important. Why? Because you want to be seen as being up to the challenges the company faces. In rough economic times every company needs fresh, new ideas to keep their market share. True or not, fresh ideas are generally not sought from “older” people. And of course, in good times when the company is hiring, they can get a fresh faced, high energy 26 year old new MBA. She dresses fashionably, and has a youthful perspective on the company’s customers. But most important of all: she’s getting paid far less than you are. Never underrate the allure of a good looking girl who will work for less money than you make. Looking old is always a disadvantage for a woman in the workplace.
• Of course if you’re on the job market like my friend, appearance is a key factor to getting hired. No one wants to hire someone who looks tired and, well, old. No matter how good your experience or references.
• If you’re widowed or divorced and want a new partner, it’s very important to look your best as men tend to chose women on the basis of looks. I’m not bad mouthing men, it’s just a fact of life. You can have a great personality , and be a lot of fun, but if you’re looking “older,” finding a new partner could prove challenging.
• In fact, I can’t think of any situation when looking “older” is a positive for any woman, no matter what her goals are. In some cultures, older people are cared for and their advice solicited. Ours is a youth oriented culture where 12 year olds are writing computer programs and making a ton of money before they go to high school. Looking our age, or God forbid older, is simply counterproductive under any circumstances.

To sum up my case that looking like, an “older woman” is an economic hazard, let’s consider what the common perception of an older woman is. Such a woman is perceived as simply having lost her mojo and that can’t be good.