Shopping Online and Protecting your Online Identity

Thanksgiving was Thursday and now we enter the Christmas season.  Were you a “Black Friday” warrior, clipping coupons and driving around parking lots searching for a parking spot so you can bargain shop? 

Another way to be a Black Friday warrior was to check your emails and shop on-line.  The nice part about being an on-line shopper is you can shop from home, wearing pajamas if you want.  A savvy shopper can often get the great prices (and free shipping).  In years past I didn’t do much on-line but am finding myself doing more and more.  It’s just too easy to ignore. 

The serious part about shopping online is protecting your online identity.  I want to share information from the University of Texas Health letter about protecting yourself from hackers and the stress they can cause at http://www.uthealthleader.org/story/holiday-hackers-2014

Patriotism

Patriotism

As our cruise ship pulled away from the New York City terminal, I enjoyed seeing both the Statue of Liberty and World Trade Center buildings.  My heart swelled with feelings of patriotism, a love and support for our great country.  While no one can deny we have problems, the USA is still the greatest country on earth. 

An article I recently read called The Psychology of American patriotism talked about the health implications of patriotism.  Dr Keith Ablow said this:  “feeling part of something greater than oneself-especially one’s country-can be sustaining, both spiritually and psychologically.”  Feelings of patriotism contribute to our mental and physical health.  Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/07/04psychology-americ... 

As we approach Thanksgiving time, we can be thankful for our great nation and the people who work hard every day to make it better.  I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 

Sleep

Do you sleep well?   Approximately 30% of adults complain of problems with sleeping.  The two most common problems, according to the National Sleep Foundation, is waking up unrefreshed and waking up a lot during the night.  The term “insomnia” has been defined as trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. 

Women experience more sleep difficulty than men.  57% of women vs. 51% of men have insomnia issues.  Experts believe that hormonal issues contribute to the higher number for women. 

When a person cannot “turn off” the life stresses, this contributes to insomnia.  How many of us go to bed thinking about our children, or work problems? As you might expect, parents have more insomnia symptoms than non-parents.  Younger people (with many job and life stresses) experience insomnia at higher rates (68% of adults 18 to 29) when compared to 44% of people over the age of 65 (who may be retired and experience less job stresses).  I don't have a solution to life stresses; we all deal with them.  However, the National Sleep Foundation has a comprehensive website at http://sleepfoundation.org  They offer valuable, reputable information we can use in our quest for a good night’s sleep. 

In the News--Healthy lifestyle may cut stroke risk in half for women

A study published in the American Academy of Neurology journal involved 31, 696 Swedish women approximately 60 years of age and followed them for an average of 10 years.  The researchers believe that five factors of a healthy lifestyle helped protect them from stroke.  The five lifestyle behaviors were:  healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption, never smoking, physically active and healthy body mass index (BMI).

Healthy diet involved adding fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy to their diet.  Drinking alcohol moderately meant no more than 3 to 9 drinks per week. Physical exercise was defined as walking or biking at least 40 minutes per day plus one hour vigorous exercise per week.  

The researchers found that as women added more of these healthy behaviors to their lifestyle, their risk of stroke decreased.  This study can be found at  https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1312?ut...

In the News--Texting changes the way we walk

In the News—Texting changes the way we walk:  walkers swerve and slow down while texting

Scientists looked at 26 healthy adults and compared how their walking changed when they were reading texts and typing texts.  They found that texting had the most dramatic changes because people who text walked slower, did not walk in a straight line and moved their bodies less.  They noticed that people reading texts showed the same findings but to a less extent. 

Researchers also noticed that pedestrians texting or reading on a mobile phone were not paying as much attention to obstacles in their path and traffic. 

I noticed this last week when I was reading a text on my phone while walking to our cafeteria for lunchtime.  It distracted me from my normal behavior of watching what was ahead of me as I was walking.   We can use this information to avoid danger by staying off our phones while walking, especially on public streets and sidewalks.  This information can be found at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140122202209.htm