Live Well

Dementia prevention

Fending Off Dementia

We do not yet have medications that can halt or reverse dementia, but there are plenty of ways to help lower the chances of developing it—including some steps you...
memories

The Mechanisms of Memory

Memory plays a powerful role in our everyday experiences, including how we learn and recall things, how we make decisions, and how we plan for our future. That is,...
Sweating

When Sweating Won’t Stop

Heat waves that make June feel more like July or August. Higher year-round temperatures that extend summer weather well into fall. Even people who live in northern latitudes are...
End-of-Life Doula

End-of-Life Doulas: Thinking Ahead

Many people are familiar with the concept of doulas, with the term introduced in the 1970s to refer to women who help out during and after childbirth. (Doula comes...
Noise Pollution

When Sound Becomes Noise

According to recent data from the University of Michigan, about one-third of Americans are exposed to sound above the average levels considered safe. But standard metrics of loudness do...
super-agers

Secrets of the Super-Agers

It’s not uncommon to lose a bit of our mental edge as we age, or even to develop some degree of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment affects more than one...
brain boosters

Breaking Down a ‘Brain Booster’

We all—at least those of us of a certain age—forget a word from time to time, misplace our keys, or walk into a room and can’t remember why. When...
sleep and dementia

Sleep and Dementia: A Possible Connection

In May 2023, the journal BMC Medicine published a study from a UC Berkeley team on the relationship between deep sleep—also known as slow-wave sleep—and Alzheimer’s disease. The paper,...
vaginal dilators

Expanding on Vaginal Dilators

Menopause can complicate your sex life in so many ways. One very important reason is the loss of estrogen, which leaves your vagina drier and less elastic. Your vagina...
Sexually transmitted infections

Sex, Seniors, and STIs

Blame Viagra, or just the fact that Americans are living longer, healthier lives. For several reasons, sexually transmitted diseases (more accurately called sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, because it’s...