Studies have shown the part of the brain that processes music is not affected by dementia, with sufferers able to recall songs and music from their youth.

Now a team from the city’s Polyphony project, which works with patients with mental health problems, wants to broaden its research after initial studies showed sessions led to improvements in cognitive functioning, communication and mood.

The charity is looking for funding to carry out a bigger study in Glasgow to prove music therapy can have long-term benefits for dementia sufferers.

Source: Evening Times

As the U.S. population ages, healthcare providers are paying increasing attention to preventing falls. Injurious falls can endanger an older person’s independence, even his or her life. And the medical costs associated with them are about $19 billion a year nationwide.

Fear of falling leads some older people to believe the safest course is to move less, but inactivity will only increase the risk of falls, say geriatric-medicine experts such as Dr. Elizabeth Phelan of Harborview Medical Center’s Fall Prevention Clinic in Seattle.

Exercise geared toward maintaining lower-body strength and balance has shown to reduce the risk of falling in older adults, Phelan said. That’s one reason she tries to steer older adults away from prematurely relying on walkers, wheelchairs and motorized scooters, which can accelerate loss strength and balance.

Source: MiamiHerald.com

* Improved mental and physical health: decreased levels of stress and tension, decline in hospitalization as well as need for out-patient medical care, decreased rates of disease, decreased overall health care costs, reduced use of alcohol and other drugs, improved cardiovascular health, reduced complaints of physical ailments, enhanced energy, strength and overall feelings of well-being, improved vegetative functioning, improved quality of sleep, decreased pain levels, looking and feeling younger and increased longevity.

* Improved cognitive functioning: improved intelligence, better creativity, enhanced learning ability, improved memory, improved reaction time, higher levels of moral reasoning, improved academic achievement, greater orderliness of brain functioning and improvements in self-actualization.

* Improved social behavior: improved self-confidence, decreased anxiety, improved family life, improved relationships at home and at work, better social tolerance, improved job performance and increased job satisfaction.

As health care costs spiral out of control, meditation is one tool that can help almost immediately in this regard. It also may help to reduce a senior’s need for a variety of medications, or at least minimize their dosage.

A more accurate term for an acupuncture facelift is “acupuncture facial rejuvenation” or “cosmetic acupuncture.” Although it is not a replacement for surgery, cosmetic acupuncture is a safe, painless, and less costly alternative for a traditional facelift.

Cosmetic acupuncture is a series of acupuncture treatments to the face, ears, neck, hands, trunk, and legs along channels (meridians) through which the life force (chi) flows. The treatments are designed to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, improve your complexion, reduce puffiness, soften deep lines and wrinkles, improve muscle tone, enhance circulation, and give your face a more relaxed, younger look.

According to this Examiner article, most acupuncture facelift treatments involve 10-15 sessions, with occasional booster sessions after that to maintain the look (grimace of pain?) you’ve achieved.

With pose names such as Temple Dancer Eyes, Smiling Fish Face and Buddha Face, facial yoga promises to help increase the flow of blood to the brain, reduce wrinkles and other fine lines in the face, and reduce stress and tension in your jaw, neck and other areas of your head.

Based on the premise that facial muscles, like any other muscle, need exercise to stay toned, enthusiasts of facial yoga say the regular practice of making kissy faces or wagging one’s tongue can reduce worry lines and wrinkles — and even create a little peace within. The face carries a great deal of tension and energy.

Facial yoga classes are becoming very popular amongst women. “I have just enrolled myself in a facial yoga course in my locality. I am yet to see the results,” says 45-year-old housewife Shipa Venkat who is aspiring to achieve a youthful appearance especially after undergoing a weight-reduction program. “Facial stretches and yoga temporarily reduce the neurological impulses associated with stress and the grimaces that lead to the worry lines in your forehead,” agrees Sonal Chib, a yoga teacher based out in Mumbai who specializes in facial yoga.

A routine of these stretches can be done in as little as 15 minutes a day, and its portability (assuming you carry your face around with you) and lack of equipment or props make facial yoga perfect for the office or anywhere else that you don’t really care whether people think you’ve lost it.

Seriously, Smiling Fish Face on a crowded subway? You’ll not only relieve stress, you’ll open up a nice little pocket of personal space for yourself. Win win.

While most studies of the Mediterranean diet in the past have concentrated on Greek citizens, the researchers behind this latest one cast their nets considerably further to involve 75,000 seniors living in nine European countries. The diet was modified so that unsaturated fats (general plant based oils) instead of monounsaturated fats (very specific plant based oils found in olives, seeds and nuts) were used.

The results? Those participants who most closely followed the diet tended to have a lower overall mortality rate than those who did not. An example the researchers used was that a 60 year old man who regularly followed their modified Mediterranean diet lived on average a year longer than a similar 60 year old man who didn’t.

Note: The traditional Mediterranean diet also incorporates a number of other elements, including: moderate fish intake; low intake of saturated fats (animal-based fats); low to moderate dairy intake; low intake of meat and poultry; and regular, albeit moderate, alcohol intake, usually consumed in the form of wine served with meals.

The study involved 108 participants, all over the age of 60. One group walked for half an hour a day on a simulated cobblestone mat. Some wore socks, others were barefoot. The second group just walked on normal ground for an hour three times a week. The study lasted for four months, after which both groups claimed to feel better. Those who walked on the cobblestones also showed significant improvements in balance, mobility and blood pressure. The biggest surprise for researchers was how quickly these improvements occurred.

Why was this effective? Practitioners of cobblestone walking in China claim that the cobblestones stimulate “acupoints” (think acupuncture) in the soles of the feet. Researchers in this study believe that the answer lies more with the way we maintain balance. We do this using two complex methods called the vestibular system (residing in the inner ear) and the somatosensory system (connecting the skin and muscles). When we walk normally, the somatosensory system makes up about 70 percent of our balance control. On cobblestones or other uneven surfaces, that number is switched in favor of the vestibular system.

As we age, we lose receptors in our vestibular system, causing it to diminish. This study concluded that, by forcing the vestibular system to work on a regular basis, it was improved in seniors to the point where it not only gave a boost to balance, but also helped to lower blood pressure.