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Mindfulness meditation may ease anxiety, mental stress

4/13/2020

POSTED JANUARY 08, 2014 , UPDATED AUGUST 05, 2019
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter

My mom began meditating decades ago, long before the mind-calming practice had entered the wider public consciousness. She liked to quote sayings from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk known for his practice of mindful meditation, or “present-focused awareness.”

Although meditation still isn’t exactly mainstream, many people practice it, hoping to stave off stress and stress-related health problems. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has become more popular in recent years. The practice of mindful meditation involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. (Or, as my mom would say, “Don’t rehearse tragedies. Don’t borrow trouble.”)

Living Wills and Health Care Proxies

4/10/2020

Harvard Women's Health Watch, published: August, 2010

Advance care directives allow you to make your health care wishes known at a time when you are unable to speak for yourself.

Most of us value our ability and freedom to make choices, especially about medical treatment. But what if you lose the capacity to make decisions or let your wishes be known? How will clinicians know what treatments you want, or don't want? Who would communicate your wishes to them?

The danger is that important medical decisions will be left to a physician who is unaware of your values, beliefs, or preferences, or to a relative who doesn't know your wishes, while your best friend, who knows far more about you, is legally powerless to intervene. One solution to this problem is a living will or health care power of attorney (also called a health care proxy form) — documents known as advance care directives. Every adult should have one or both of these documents.

Planning ahead for your future medical care

4/9/2020

Harvard Heart Letter, Published: October, 2016

Talking with loved ones about your values and wishes can help ensure you'll receive the type of treatment you want.

If you're like most people, you've avoided talking about what would happen in the event that you become unable to make your own health care decisions. But as your family and friends gather together during the upcoming holidays, consider carving out some time for an important conversation with a person you trust.

Everyone should have a health care proxy—a person who can speak on your behalf if you lack the capacity to do so. "You don't want to burden your health care proxy with difficult decisions. That's why you need to discuss the choices that you'd make for yourself," says Dr. Lynne W. Stevenson, professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the cardiomyopathy and heart failure program at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Positive Psychology in Practice

4/1/2020

Harvard Mental Health Letter, published: May, 2008

Various approaches aim to shift attention away from pathology.

Positive psychology is sometimes dismissed as so much happy talk. But practitioners say that their techniques provide a much-needed balance to psychiatry's traditional focus on psychic pain and pathology.

The term "positive psychology" is a broad one, encompassing a variety of techniques that encourage people to identify and further develop their own positive emotions, experiences, and character traits. In many ways, positive psychology builds on key tenets of humanistic psychology. Carl Rogers' client-centered therapy, for example, was based on the theory that people could improve their lives by expressing their authentic selves. And Abraham Maslow identified traits of self-actualized people that are similar to the character strengths identified and used in some positive psychology interventions.

Advance Care Planning: Healthcare Directives

1/17/2020

Advance care planning is not just about old age. At any age, a medical crisis could leave you too ill to make your own healthcare decisions. Even if you are not sick now, planning for health care in the future is an important step toward making sure you get the medical care you would want, if you are unable to speak for yourself and doctors and family members are making the decisions for you.

Many Americans face questions about medical treatment but may not be capable of making those decisions, for example, in an emergency or at the end of life. This article will explain the types of decisions that may need to be made in such cases and questions you can think about now so you're prepared later. It can help you think about who you would want to make decisions for you if you can't make them yourself. It will also discuss ways you can share your wishes with others. Knowing who you want to make decisions on your behalf and how you would decide might take some of the burden off family and friends.

Getting Your Affairs in Order

1/17/2020

Ben has been married for 47 years. He always managed the family’s money. But since his stroke, Ben is not able to walk or talk. His wife, Shirley, feels overwhelmed. Of course, she’s worried about Ben’s health. But, on top of that, she has no idea what bills should be paid or when they are due.
Across town, 80-year-old Louise lives alone. One night, she fell in the kitchen and broke her hip. She spent a week in the hospital and 2 months in a rehabilitation nursing home. Even though her son lives across the country, he was able to pay her bills and handle her Medicare questions right away. That’s because, several years ago, Louise and her son made a plan about what he should do in case Louise had a medical emergency.

Super-Agers: This Special Group of Older Adults Suggests You Can Keep Your Brain Young and Spry

1/16/2020

POSTED JULY 05, 2017, 10:30 AM
Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch

My Facebook page is a collection of links to stories about inspirational people. Almost all have a common theme — older people who do extraordinary things. Some of my favorite stories, though, involve those with acute mental prowess. This special group of adults ages 60 to 80, called “super-agers,” have a higher resistance to natural brain aging and thus can keep their gray cells young and vibrant.

Preventing Falls in Older Adults: Multiple Strategies are Better

1/16/2020

POSTED OCTOBER 22, 2019, 10:30 AM
Brad Manor, PhD, Contributor

Despite considerable research and clinical effort, falls among people 65 and older are on the rise. An older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall every 11 seconds, with injuries ranging from simple cuts and bruises to broken bones. Hip fractures are the most serious injury from falls, and more than half of older adults hospitalized for hip fractures after a fall never regain their previous levels of mobility or quality of life. Further, falls are a leading cause of death among older adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an older adult dies from a fall every 19 minutes. Despite these sobering statistics, falls are not an inescapable part of aging; on the contrary, most falls are largely preventable.

5 Research-Backed Lessons on What Makes a Happy Life

1/16/2020

POSTED MAY 08, 2017, 10:00 AM
Robert John Waldinger, MD, Contributor

Ever wonder what it would be like to be able to look at people’s entire adult lives? Not asking older people to remember, but starting with them as teenagers and tracking their health and well-being until they die? We’ve been lucky enough to do this for the past 78 years, starting in the late 1930s and early ‘40s with a group of men who agreed to be part of one of the longest studies of adult life ever done.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development has tracked the lives of 724 men from the time they were teenagers into old age — 268 Harvard College sophomores, and 456 boys from Boston’s inner city. Using questionnaires, interviews, medical records, and scans of blood and brains, we’ve monitored their physical and mental health, work lives, friendships, and romances.

Here are five of the big lessons we’ve learned about what contributes to a good life:

Eat Better, Live Longer

1/16/2020

POSTED MARCH 31, 2017, 7:00 AM
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling

We’ve all heard it before: to be as healthy as you can be, choose a healthy diet. And while that’s easier said than done, the impact of improving your diet may be large. That’s according to a recent study that estimated the impact of dietary modifications on premature cardiovascular deaths in this country. The verdict? More than 400,000 deaths each year could be prevented with dietary improvement.