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Loneliness can be deadly for elders

The circle shrinks. As the years pass, older people attend too many funerals. Friendships that sustained them for decades lapse when companions and confidants retire or move away or grow ill.

The way we prioritize friendships may evolve. Laura Carstensen, a Stanford University psychologist, developed an influential theory called “socioemotional selectivity”: As people sense their remaining time growing brief, they shed superficial relationships to concentrate on those they find most meaningful.

“They invest more in their remaining connections,” said Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center. “They optimize friendships, rather than try to maximize them.”

A tide of recent research underscores the importance of such bonds. Social isolation and loneliness can take a serious toll on elders, psychologically and physically. They also suffer higher mortality rates and increased risk of depression, cognitive decline and illnesses like coronary artery disease.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, followed 1,600 participants (average age: 71) and found that those who reported loneliness were more likely to develop difficulties with activities of daily living. Even when the study controlled for socioeconomic status and health, the lonely had higher mortality: Nearly 23 percent died within six years, compared with 14 percent of those who weren’t lonely.

With strong evidence that friendship does, indeed, help save lives and promote health, social workers and researchers wish we could pay more attention to its central role. Activity directors, senior center staff members and family caregivers: Are there better ways to help elders stay in touch with the friends they care about, or meet new ones? We’re all willing to drive relatives to doctors’ appointments; driving them to spend time with friends may matter as much.

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Text:

APPLE PIE RECIPE

6 cups thinly sliced apples
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 recipe pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie

Prepare your pastry for a two crust pie. Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples; measure to 6 cups. Combine sugar and cinnamon. The amount of sugar used depends on how tart your apples are. Arrange apples in layers in pastry lined pie plate. Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon. Dot top layer with small pieces of butter or margarine. Cover with top crust. Place on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer. Serve warm or cold.

O textopertence a um gênero textual conhecido pelo uso de verbos no modo imperativo, isto é, verbos que indicam ordens, pedidos, comandos, etc.

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Rates of newly diagnosed HIV increasing in over-50s

The news is based on a European study that found more over-50s are being diagnosed with HIV compared with 12 years ago. The study collected data on more than 360,000 people who had been newly diagnosed with HIV between 2004 and 2015 in Europe.

The researchers looked at infection rates over time according to age, route of transmission and country. They found a number of differences between the patterns of infection and diagnosis in those aged 15 to 49 and in those aged 50 and over. (Source: www.nhs.uk).

Can plants hear?

Flora may be able to detect the sounds of flowing water or munching insects

Pseudoscientific claims that music helps plants grow have been made for decades, despite evidence that is shaky at best. Yet new research suggests some flora may be capable of sensing sounds, such as the gurgle of water through a pipe or the buzzing of insects.

In a recent study, Monica Gagliano, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Western Australia, and her colleagues placed pea seedlings in pots shaped like an upside-down Y. One arm of each pot was placed in either a tray of water or a coiled plastic tube through which water flowed; the other arm had dry soil. The roots grew toward the arm of the pipe with the fluid, regardless of whether it was easily accessible or hidden inside the tubing. “They just knew the water was there, even if the only thing to detect was the sound of it flowing inside the pipe,” Gagliano says. Yet when the seedlings were given a choice between the water tube and some moistened soil, their roots favored the latter. She hypothesizes that these plants use sound waves to detect water at a distance but follow moisture gradients to home in on their target when it is closer.

The research, reported earlier this year in Oecologia, is not the first to suggest flora can detect and interpret sounds. A 2014 study showed the rock cress Arabidopsis can distinguish between caterpillar chewing sounds and wind vibrations – the plant produced more chemical toxins after “hearing” a recording of feeding insects. “We tend to underestimate plants because their responses are usually less visible to us. But leaves turn out to be extremely sensitive vibration detectors,” says lead study author Heidi M. Appel, an environmental scientist now at the University of Toledo.

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Britain needs to go on a diet, says top health officials

The portion sizes of some of Britain’s most popular foods are to be cut, with health officials telling the public it is time “to get on a diet”. Public Health England (PHE) is targeting pizzas, ready meals, processed meat and takeaways, in a new obesity drive. The government agency has also urged the food industry to start using healthier ingredients and encourage the public to opt for lower calorie foods. It is all part of a drive to cut calorie consumption by 20% by 2024.

The target will apply to 13 different food groups, responsible for a fifth of the calorie intake of children. But PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie said the steps were as much about influencing the diets of adults. “Britain needs to go on a diet. Children and adults routinely eat too many calories, and it’s why so many are overweight or obese,” he said.

The agency is also launching a campaign encouraging adults to consume 400 calories at breakfast and 600 each at lunch and dinner. It is being seen as a rough guide for consumers to follow when they buy meals away from home. A quarter of food is now bought from cafes, restaurants, takeaways or as food-to-go from shops. PHE said major groups such as McDonald’s, Subway and Greggs would be promoting foods that kept people within these guidelines.

Currently adults consume between 200 and 300 calories more than they should each day. PHE chief nutritionist Dr. Alison Tedstone said the campaign would make it easier for “people to make healthier choices” by being able to judge what they should be eating in each sitting. “To get traction on this, the big-selling things need to change. A few healthy options on the end of a menu won’t help solve the nation’s obesity problem – we need the regular, everyday products to change,” she said.