Ah, Summer!

Well, it’s finally here. Snowfalls and ice storms of not so many months ago are forgotten as we complain about the heat! At least now we can cool off in the lake, in the pool or in a nice well air conditioned cinema, the later being, I suspect, the reason summer movies are so popular.

            And in the summer you don’t need a shovel.

            It’s the perfect time to be doing things that take us out of our regular routine like spending more time with family, enjoying gardening, catching up on our reading in the shade of a large tree, being more active with all sorts of outdoor activities, watching the starry night sky, or whatever else we feel like doing. We feel freer, don’t you think?

            It’s time for vacations, for taking time off which is what I will be doing for a few weeks. I will then be back to my blog renewed by the ease and calm of the warm season.

            Wishing all my readers a great summer.

           

Eye Scans and Alzheimer’s Disease

For those of us who have relatives who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, recent studies show hope for the future.

Two new studies suggest signs of Alzheimer’s disease are visible in the eyes before symptoms appear. Research by ophthalmologists at Duke University and in Israel show that a new, non-invasive imaging device can see signs of Alzheimer’s disease in a matter of seconds. The research showed that the small blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye are altered in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Even patients who have a family history of the disease but have no symptoms show these telltale signs. And they showed that they can distinguish between people with Alzheimer’s and those with only mild cognitive impairment. 

A new kind of precise and non-invasive imaging has assisted much of the recent research on the eye’s connection with Alzheimer’s. It enables physicians to see the smallest veins in the back of the eye, including the red blood cells moving through the retina.  

Because the retina is connected to the brain by way of the optic nerve, researchers believe that the deterioration in the retina and its blood vessels may mirror the changes going on in the blood vessels and structures in the brain, thereby offering a window into the disease process. 

At the moment diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is a challenge. Brain scans are expensive and spinal taps can be harmful. Instead, the disease is often diagnosed through memory tests or observing behavioral changes. By the time these changes are noticed, the disease is advanced.

Even though there is no cure, early diagnosis is critical as future treatments are likely to be most effective when given early. Early diagnosis would also give patients and their families time to plan for the future. 

The Real Me

When I woke up one morning recently and made my way to the bathroom my eyes inadvertently had a quick glance in the mirror. What a shock! Who the he... double hockey stick... was that?

            I had slept badly and my haircut of the day before now made me look like I was a witch wearing some sort of windswept wig. Would I need intense therapy to recover? I remembered a relative saying that he always put a comb to his hair as soon as he woke up so as to not scare his family. He obviously had the right idea.

            I recovered my sense of self worth as soon as I put my hair brush to good use. However, I realized that not all haircuts are created equal, and that the way you sleep does influence how your hair will look first thing in the morning. I sleep on my side which is easily supported visually when I wake up.

            When I was young one of my aunts always had perfectly coiffed hair no matter the time of day. I figured out why one day when I stayed at her house overnight. She wore a heavy hairnet to bed which meant that her hair was not affected by her sleeping position and that it looked great as soon as the net was removed.

            So up I went to the mall in search of a hairnet only to realize that I had to go to a speciality beauty shop to get a heavy one that could prevent my hair from making me look like a freak upon waking up. After trying it for one night, I realized to my disappointment that for some reason it didn’t stay on my head so it did nothing to help my hair stay in place. So what is an aging person supposed to do?

            I finally realized that everyone is basically in the same boat. We simply need to “adjust” ourselves in the morning before facing the world as my relative used to say by keeping a favorite hairbrush at hand. That way we won’t scare anyone especially ourselves. 

Cooking Today

I have a friend who enjoys watching cooking shows on TV, most of them competitions to see who can cook the fastest. These have no appeal to me and I doubt that they actually help viewers be better cooks.

            Perhaps my friend likes these shows because they counterbalance the fact that the art of cooking is slowly being lost. In the past when women did not work outside the home, cooking was central to family life. Children and husbands came home to the aroma of homemade soup and a slowly simmering stew, not to mention fresh baked bread.

            Today, cooking from scratch is being replaced by modern options. People are busy and have little time to spend in the kitchen so they let themselves be tempted by the endless displays of prepared meals at their local grocery stores. Not to mention “meal kit” subscriptions where fresh ingredients arrive ready to assemble. I suppose it is real cooking in a way.

            For those of us who still cook from scratch, these options are of course great when we’re busy or under the weather. That’s why I always have a few frozen meals in my freezer for such eventuality.  But as a rule I still cook from scratch. Making homemade soup is a regular thing for me. My family very much enjoys my squash soup especially in the fall.

When I make soup, or stew, or chilli, I make it in a big pot so I can freeze some of it, thus making many future meals no trouble at all. It also saves on shopping time. You get the ingredients only once instead of shopping for the same ingredients several times.

Of course, now that the good weather is back, I’m sure barbecuing will remain as popular as ever, especially for the guys. A good homemade meal can be had if the veggies are cooked along with the meat or the fish. What’s great about that is that the kitchen stays clean.

And who can argue with that!

Redirecting to Positivity

It is widely known that negative feelings about aging can be self-fulfilling. But by making an effort to be more positive we can all have a long, happy life free of the fear of aging. One of the ways of doing this is certainly meditation.

            Buddha was asked, “What have you gained from meditation. He replied, “Nothing! But let me tell you what I lost: anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, fear of old age and of death.”

            In short, meditation is the loss of negativity. It has been my personal experience that meditation does indeed bring a new perspective of life into the open.

            Meditation can take many forms but it essentially eases all emotional tension.  It means taking a peaceful mind break by engaging in contemplation and reflection to calm the whole being. Meditation can also mean putting some order in our feelings, examining the areas of our lives that need to be improved, or simply reflecting on the beauty all around us and the many reasons we have to be grateful.

            By engaging in relaxation, contemplation and reflection negative thoughts are released and replaced with positivity.  Then, positive affirmations help the mind concentrate on steps to be taken to be more at peace. Appreciation naturally follows as blessings are counted along with the countless joys and successes encountered every day.

            Why should I be grateful? an acquaintance asked me a while back, adding that pain is almost constant in her life due to arthritis in her knees. When I invited her to join in my meditation group she shook her head and said it was hogwash. After I renewed my invitation a few times, she finally agreed no doubt to stop the pressure I was putting on her. In any event, after just a few times of redirecting her perspective of life, it was clear that she had changed her mind.

             Now, even if her knees are still painful she smiles more and pays more attention to the many good things in her life. Talk about positivity!

Changes

According to those who study social trends, it appears that things are changing. In the ‘old days’ kids had to have a license to drive as soon as they turned sixteen. Today’s coming-of-age generation seems to be a lot less interested in having a car. Many of those who live in cities ride a bike instead of a car. And those who have a license to drive forego owing a car preferring the share-a-car idea now popping up everywhere. If the trend continues, it’s only a matter of time before huge cars are relegated to the dinosaur pile.

When I was charged with emptying a relative’s home after she moved into a care facility I was in for a surprise. She has exquisite things that I know for a fact cost a small fortune to acquire, but I had trouble getting anyone interested. For example, I was told by antique dealers that a set of superb gold-trimmed china is something nobody wants these days. And I hear the same type of remarks from boomers looking to downsize. Today’s younger generation is looking for dishes that can be washed in the dishwasher, so no gold trim. And they certainly will not spend time polishing silver.

And because of the forever-speeding-ahead technological advances those following us don’t own the things we had to have. We bought vinyl records and then CDs, VHSs then DVDs to enjoy in our home, and today find ourselves with piles and piles of them. By contrast, today everything is digital so the new generation downloads the music they want to hear and therefore there are no actual physical CDs to deal with. The same for movies. Today, young people simply choose the movie they want to see from the choices offered through television and wireless devices. Long gone are the days when you bought DVDs or had to go to the video store to rent a movie.

And with advances in photography, physical photos are becoming a thing of the past. Photos are available for viewing on phones, laptops, or tablets, not in photo albums like we used to keep them. There are some advantages to having photos stored electronically. They don’t fade or yellow like our photos have tended to do over the years. So will our kids appreciate getting all our old photo albums? Probably not. To circumvent the problem, I had all my old photos and slides (remember those?) transferred unto CDs and gave one to each of my children at Christmas. They really appreciated the gesture, and it is something they can pass on to their own children later on. Although, that might be a problem. I am told that CDs are becoming a thing of the past as many new computers don’t even have ports for them. Today it’s flash drives.

So what will happen to the CDs of photos I gave my children if their children can’t view them? I don’t worry about it; I’m sure someday they will be able to transfer them into some form of cyber storage. However, I do worry about getting rid of some of my things when I downsize.

If I have a yard sale, the new generation will certainly not show up. Young people seem quite satisfied to travel light.

Privacy

I am of the opinion that we should all be worried about privacy in a world where technology speeds ahead waiting for no one, often respecting no one. We don’t know who’s listening, who’s compiling data on us, who’s looking at us.

          Did you know that if your computer is hacked, or you use a public server, the camera on it can become a means of spying on you? It is said that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg covers his computer camera with tape. This is something I always do. If someone wants to look at me through my computer camera, they can only do so with my permission.

          Amazon’s Alexa is known to have recorded some conversations in private homes. How about that for stealing privacy? But that’s not the only culprit. We tend to be our own worst enemy on the internet by giving companies much data without our realizing it when we shop or when we rate preferences or anything else we write or do online.

          Also, how often are we asked to agree to this or that. Allow this or that. Do we always read what we’re agreeing to? You can get lost in some long privacy agreements and may give up before reading that it includes our agreeing to giving complete and permanent access to what we do on line.

          In North America tech companies are legally allowed to collect and sell our personal data which can generate targeted ads and so on. That’s one of the reasons your computer, or rather ads, are on a first-name basis with you. You’re reading something on the internet when a pop-up ads appears calling you by name. You have provided your name at some point when you bought something and the data has been noted and sold.

          That’s why I have devised my personal “computer engineering” system. I am not always truthful when I give my name. I use different names for different uses calling myself Cutie Smith or Lavender Doe. So when a targeted ad says: Hi there, Cutie. Have we got a special for you today ...  Or when I get an email addressing me as Lavender I know where the information originated. Not that it really matters given the real lack of any human involvement in all of it. Computerized machines reign today and are often really annoying.

          It’s not insane to think that in the so distant future your alarm clock will record and report how often you sleep in, or you may find yourself wondering if your car keeps tab on your driving habits and is reporting the information to your insurance company or even the police.

          My advice: Don’t think about it too much if you want to sleep tonight!