I’m certain I’ve recorded this story in an earlier blog, but it bears repeating.  Several years ago, two of my neighbors suffered from schizophrenia. They were bright and highly educated women.  One was a poet and the other an oil painter.  Though extraordinarily talented, both

For proof positive that men and women don’t think alike, consider the way each buys underwear.  A woman would think twice before buying a bra over the internet unless she knows the product.  From cup size, to the underwire, to the straps that dig into your flesh, there are too man

Because fasting seems to improve health in mice and rats, some folks have decided to spend their days in similar fashion, existing on sips of air. Fasting, as writer Jennifer Alsever explains, deprives the body of glucose and forces it to steal ketones from the liver.  Ketones are a

The debate goes on about whether or not psychology and other branches of social sciences are true sciences. Can their research be subjected to rigorous  methods and the data verified by other researchers? The argument, pro and con, gathered  intensity, recently, over the theory of �

We’ve all heard the commercials promoting prescription drugs.  Take a pill to reduce a headache but the side effect could cause a heart attack. Not only is the pharmaceutical approach to illness, risky, but the cost of the drugs can be astronomical.  One company, Glaxo-Smith-Kline

The latest research on Alzheimer’s hasn’t pulled back many veils about the disease but it has uncovered a few puzzling facts. For example, some people who have the neuron-killing tangles associated with the illness, never display symptoms.  Others aren’t so lucky.  To explain

While I’m standing at the lunch counter at the retirement center, a woman whom I’ve known for several years greeted me with surprise.  Had I grown and inch or two she wondered.  By her recollection, she’d always been taller than I.  She was right, of course.  But age had don

As I wrote in an earlier blog (6/20/16), Millennials are imposing changes on the American landscape.  One of those changes has to do with the way they eat.  The younger generation tends to snack throughout the day rather than sit down to 3 full meals. (“Why Hershey Is Losing Its S

I have a confession. Since I joined the retirement center, I’ve gained 6 lbs.  My doctor didn’t seem alarmed.  “A little extra weight as a person gets older is good,” she shrugged. Easy for her to say.  She doesn’t have to fit into my jeans.  Some extra pounds might be t

A friend of mine was driving along a freeway one  dark and stormy night when she was overcome by a fear that forced her off the highway.  Except for the pounding rain, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Still she was so upset, she asked the friend with her  to drive them hom