Thursday, October 9, 2014

7 Physical Effects Of Sleep Deprivation (Details Magazine)

We break down what happens to your heart, blood pressure, waistline, and other parts of the body when you're sleep-deprived (and yes, it's scary).

ILLUSTRATION BY JEONG SUH, BRYAN CHRISTIE DESIGN

On Your Heart
A study in the journal Sleep shows that nearly a quarter of people who sleep fewer than six hours a night have some kind of cardiovascular disease (clogged arteries, an abnormal or weak heartbeat, etc.). What's more, Harvard Medical School experts say that those who chronically fail to hit the five-hour mark are 15 percent more likely to die at any age from anything.

On Your Reflexes
After 24 hours without sleep, cognitive motor performance matches that of someone five drinks in, says a study in Nature. Need to game the system? Drink a medium coffee and snooze for 20 minutes. In a famous study out of Loughborough University in England, this trick made exhausted drivers feel alert.

On Your Stomach
Production of leptin, the hormone that makes you feel full and regulates fat storage, is 15.5 percent lower in those who habitually sleep just five hours, according to University of Wisconsin researchers. Hence the 10 A.M.doughnut craving.

On Your Waistline
A poor sleeper's BMI is 3.6 percent greater on average, according to Stanford University researchers who found that those who typically get only five hours of shut-eye a night have more body fat. If you snag only four hours, expect to consume an extra 559 calories the following day, per the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

On Your Blood Pressure
A man who regularly dozes fewer than six hours raises his systolic BP to 132 (less than 120 is normal), likely because not snoozing ups cortisol—the stress hormone. To help patients get more sleep, doctors may soon be prescribing Belsomra. Approved by the FDA in August, it adjusts the brain's levels of orexin (a hormone that helps regulate wakefulness) and is expected to have fewer side effects than Ambien.

On Your Pancreas
Men are twice as likely to develop diabetes during their lifetime as a result of sustained sub-six-hour nights, regardless of age or activity level, according to a Yale University Medical School study.

On Your Brain
Staying up for 19 hours on end three days in a row can damage or kill brain cells, per a new animal study that researchers believe may hold for men too. Scarier still, similar experiments show that without slumber, the brain can't clear out the plaque-forming proteins that cause Alzheimer's and dementia.

• • •

KEYWORDS:: BODY AND HEALTH,; PSYCHE

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Moving to a Smaller Home, and Decluttering a Lifetime of Belongings

THE amount of goods a couple can accumulate over 44 years living in the same house can be overwhelming. And that is what Wendel and Carolyn Thompson, of Columbia, Md., have been grappling with since January as they prepare to leave their split level and move to a retirement community this month.

Figuring out how to squeeze the contents of a house into a two-bedroom retirement unit nearby in Catonsville, Md., has taken most of their time in recent months. And they’ve had some help. “Declutter ladies,” or downsizing specialists, spend hours with them every week to sort through and pare down their belongings to a more manageable size.

“We’ll get through this. That’s what I tell myself several times every day,” said Mrs. Thompson, 77, a former teacher and Maryland school nutrition program employee, who raised three children in the four-bedroom house. An avid collector of educational materials, games, gifts and other miscellaneous items like teddy bears, she devotes time every day to deciding what goes in the boxes for giving away, the boxes for the new apartment and the boxes for each of her children — and their children.

Jewel Flick, left, of Let's Move, is helping the Thompsons prepare to move. Wendel Thompson, right, checks the value of donated items on a computer. Credit J.M. Eddins Jr. for The New York Times

“One of my recommendations for handling this,” she added wryly, “is don’t wait.”

But, of course, many people do wait — and wait, said Kimberly McMahon, co-owner of Let’s Move, a downsizing and moving specialist in Fulton, Md., whose company is helping Mrs. Thompson and her husband, 78, a former government statistician, to clear out every nook and cranny.

“Downsizing is the hardest because it is emotionally difficult for people to release their history,” said Ms. McMahon. “It’s the worst anxiety associated with any move.”

Her advice is “that nothing should be off limits. Either use it, love it — or leave it.”

Getting rid of furniture and general clutter can be a daunting task. For those with antiques, silver, jewelry and other valuables, Laurene Sherlock, a Bethesda, Md., antiques appraiser, will advise people of outlets like vintage shops, where owners can consign their precious pieces for sale.

But the value of valuables can be cyclical, warned Ms. Sherlock, who noted that 1950s and mid-modern furniture “is hot, and so is Bakelite jewelry, but something else that people love may just not be popular. A lot of younger people just don’t want to be burdened with the tchotchkes.”

While homeowners can amass impressive amounts, the task of clearing out apartments where people have lived for a long time is not any easier, said Ron Shuma, who runs A+ Organizing in New York City.

“I advise going through each drawer and each closet every six months because it’s so much easier,” he said. “But people typically don’t, and that’s where I come in to help people realize what are treasures, and then we get rid of the rest.”

When Hanan Watson, 71, decided to downsize after 35 years in a large two-bedroom Murray Hill apartment, she found that “it is very difficult to sell or even give away many things. Charities can be extremely particular about what they are willing to take.”

She donated some of her art to a nearby community art center, gave some items to relatives and friends and got a lot of assistance from Mr. Shuma in getting rid of larger furniture.

“There are a lot of challenges, for example, the glut of ‘brown furniture” — even good-quality mahogany — which fetches pennies on the dollar,” Mr. Shuma said. “The best thing is for a family member to take it.”

But with careers and young children, fewer 40- or 50-something offspring want to acquire bulkier items or take on the task of sorting and disposing of unwanted goods in their parents’ homes. In the last decade, baby boomers, more used to paying for services than their Depression-era parents, have been increasingly willing to spend money for outsiders to help them pare down their accumulation.

The price of such services can vary widely, from $60 an hour in major metropolitan areas except New York City, where the cost can run as high as $200 hourly. In other areas, downsizing help can run $40 an hour. Sorting, packing and moving typically runs from $4,000 and $10,000, depending on the locale, according to specialists.

Despite the cost, the demand for downsizing is strong, according to the National Association of Senior Move Managers. In 2014, the association reported that 50 percent of those contracting for services with its members were older adults, and 30 percent of the initial contacts leading to contracts were from the senior’s family.

An additional 20 percent of business comes from sources like senior housing communities, which have increasingly been establishing programs to help seniors pare back and streamline their belongings before becoming community residents. In 2007, Erickson Living, a major retirement community provider, started a program in Novi, Mich., to advise older adults who had signed up to move to the Fox Run retirement community.

The program, called Erickson Realty and Moving Service, is offered at the 18 Erickson retirement communities around the country, and helps older people with real estate agents, repair people, organizers and movers to smooth their path out of their longtime homes and into smaller spaces.

Last year, the program helped 230 of the 340 people who moved to Erickson properties in Virginia and Maryland, said Sharon Baksa, its regional sales director. The program provides up to $2,000 in relocation expenses — sometimes more.

“We play the role of the surrogate family member,” said Ms. Baksa, who helped start the program in Michigan. “We handle between 1,800 and 1,900 moves a year over all.”

Choosing the retirement community, the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville, helped the Thompsons in Maryland focus on sorting and jettisoning belongings.

“When we set an August date then we knew we had a goal, and we had to meet it,” Mrs. Thompson said.

The downsizing credit was an incentive for the Thompsons, who started in February with a once-a-week visit, for three to four hours, to help sort belongings and get unwanted items out the door. By April, they had increased the declutterer’s schedule to twice a week to meet their target of an August move, and preparing their house for sale by the fall.

They did not have high-end valuables that would warrant an estate sale, but, instead, had one yard sale and then gave away many of their items to family, friends and charities like Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. Most retirement communities and organizing professionals maintain a list of organizations and what they will accept.

Churches or temples also help. Marc J. Rosenblum, a retired lawyer and economist, has been clearing out his late wife’s belongings and various household goods from his McLean, Va., contemporary home with advice from his synagogue, Temple Rodef Shalom.

“They provided suggestions for where to allocate items, for destinations like a homeless shelter in Bailey’s Crossroads, Va., and a nearby thrift store,” said Mr. Rosenblum, 78. He first consulted a downsizing specialist, which, he said, “saved a lot of time, and helped me pick up some good ideas, including a furniture auctioneer.”

He handled the downsizing task largely on his own, but others like the Thompsons say they welcome the help and the prompting for what many see as an onerous, time-consuming job.

Even with the help, “it’s one step at a time,” said Mr. Thompson. “And I don’t see the end yet.”

For people thinking about beginning the task, here are some ideas from Kimberly McMahon, of Let’s Move..

■ Write some organizing time on your calendar.

■ Set a timer to get started.

■ Start small, even if it’s matching up a cup with a saucer.

■ Get a friend to help.

■ Fill a trash bag once a week.

■ Call and book a donation pickup for the next day.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/your-money/moving-to-a-smaller-home-and-decluttering-a-lifetime-of-belongings.html?emc=edit_my_20140908&nl=your-money&nlid=32663937&_r=0

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Increasingly, Retirees Dump Their Possessions and Hit the Road

SOME call themselves “senior gypsies.” Others prefer “international nomad.” David Law, 74, a retired executive recruiter who has primarily slept in tents in several countries in the last two years, likes the ring of “American Bedouin.”

They are American retirees who have downsized to the extreme, choosing a life of travel over a life of tending to possessions. And their numbers are rising.

Mr. Law and his wife, Bonnie Carleton, 69, who are selling their house in Santa Fe, N.M., spoke recently by phone from a campground in Stoupa, Greece, a village on the southern coast of the Peloponnese. He explained that they roam the world to “get the broadest and most radical experience that we can get.”

They recently decided to fold their tent. “Hey, we’re getting to be too old for this,” said Mr. Law about camping out. But they intend to continue what he termed their “endless holiday” in a more comfortable and spacious recreational vehicle.

Between 1993 and 2012, the percentage of all retirees traveling abroad rose to 13 percent from 9.7 percent, according to the Commerce Department.

About 360,000 Americans received Social Security benefits at foreign addresses in 2013, about 48 percent more than 10 years earlier. An informal survey of insurance brokers found greater demand by older clients for travel medical policies. (Medicare, with a few exceptions, does not cover expenses outside the United States). While many retirees ultimately return home or become expatriates, some live like vagabonds.

Lynne Martin, 73, a retired publicist and the author of “Home Sweet Anywhere: How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World,” is one. Three years ago, she and her husband, Tim, 68, sold their three-bedroom house in Paso Robles, Calif., gave away most of their possessions, found a home for their Jack Russell terrier, Sparky, and now live in short-term vacation rentals they usually find through HomeAway.com.

The Martins have not tapped their savings during their travels, alternating visits to expensive cities like London with more reasonable destinations like Lisbon. “We simply traded the money we were spending for overhead on a house and garden in California for a life in much smaller but comfortable HomeAway rentals in more interesting places,” Ms. Martin said by email from Paris.

On her blog, Barefoot Lovey, Stacy Monday, 50, a former paralegal and mediator who lived in Knoxville, Tenn., wrote: “I used to dream about all the places I would go as soon as I was old enough to get away. But then ... life happened.” On May 1, 2010 — like many itinerant baby boomers Ms. Monday can quickly recall the date her journey started — she embarked on her dream trip. She “crisscrossed the U.S. three times” and visited Mexico, Ireland, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain and many other countries.

Travel Tips for Vagabonds-in-Training

Make sure travel insurance covers medical evacuation to the United States. A rider or separate policy may be required.
Bring noise-canceling headphones for immediate access to peace.
Consider downloading the Point It app, a catalog of photos of items travelers need with translations in several languages.
Buy a few pairs of fast-drying microfiber underwear, which take up less space in luggage than conventional knickers.

“I sold everything I had,” Ms. Monday recalled earlier this summer from San Francisco before she headed to Las Vegas, Dallas, Memphis and Knoxville. “I paid off all of my debt. I have no bills and no money.” She estimates that she now spends $150 a month — sometimes less if she is saving up for a flight — and earns a modest income through “odds-and-ends jobs,” as well as the tip jar on her blog.

To stick to her tight budget, Ms. Monday volunteers for nonprofits and organic farms in exchange for room and board or finds free places to stay through Couchsurfing.org. The company puts its membership of people 50 and older at about 250,000.

Ms. Monday monitors ride-share boards at Couchsurfing and Craigslist for free or inexpensive transportation, and she travels light. “I get away with a couple pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, a skirt and four or five shirts and a pair of pajamas,” she said.

When she answers the ubiquitous question, What do you do? Ms. Monday notices that most women respond with encouragement, while many men are less supportive. “They say: ‘You should be home. That’s not safe. You are old.’ I get that from a lot of the men,” she said.

Hal E. Hershfield, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of California, Los Angeles who studies the influence of time on consumer behavior, observes that many “pre-retirees” still assume retirement is a “decrepit, sitting on a porch, maybe playing golf, ice-tea type of life.”

But current retirees are “changing the way they think,” he said, “because they are still healthy and sort of young at heart.” In the last 50 years, retirement “wasn’t this period that we spent years and years in,” Mr. Hershfield continues. “It really, truly was the end of life.”

David Law and his wife, Bonnie Carleton, on the Great Wall of China.

Galit Nimrod, a research fellow at the Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, says an extended postretirement trip can assuage a sense of loss from ending a career. Travel can “act as a neutral, transitional zone between voluntary or imposed endings and new beginnings” and “serve as a healthy coping mechanism,” Dr. Nimrod said by email.

Gary D. Norton, 69, acknowledges that he felt “afraid of retirement” when he left his job of 34 years as a science professor at a South Dakota community college.

In 2002, he and his wife, Avis M. Norton, 67, a retired farmer, sold their house, bought an R.V. and started volunteering full time for two nonprofits: Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service, or Nomads, and RV Care-A-Vanners, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity.

The couple typically rebuilds houses damaged by natural disasters, projects that usually last several weeks. Mr. Norton, who now specializes in drywall finishing, and his wife, who studied carpentry, say they cherish the chance to give back to society while seeing the country. “Now what we’re doing is so satisfying and fulfilling, even though we have some health issues, we say we don’t want to quit,” said Mr. Norton, who estimated that he and his wife had repaired damaged homes in 28 states.

The chance to volunteer on international conservation projects and the opportunity to live like a local inspired Danila Mansfield, 58, and her husband, Chris Gill, 64, to sell their house in San Jose, Calif., last year. They got rid of nearly everything they owned — the exceptions being two suitcases, clothing and a pair of guitars (Mr. Gill’s prized Gibson ES-335 electric guitar is stowed at a friend’s house, but he totes around a travel guitar) — and do not even rent a storage space.

The purge of possessions was “a little nerve-racking” at first, but ultimately “hugely liberating,” said Ms. Mansfield, who is currently in South Africa. She and her husband plan to volunteer on game reserves to protect endangered species and then study great white sharks.

So far, their travels have surpassed expectations. They drove from San Jose to Florida over five months, before cruising to Europe. High points included meeting a judge at a bar in Amarillo, Tex., who invited them to visit his drug court, catching crawfish with locals in Louisiana’s bayou country and making new friends in Austin, Tex., who invited the couple to stay with them in South Africa.

But Ms. Mansfield has also hit bumps in the road. In Galveston, Tex., and New Orleans, an acute respiratory illness required three visits to urgent care centers. “It was really dragging me down,” she recalled. At one point she cried for home, but then managed to brighten her mood. “I kept telling myself, ‘This is home,’ ” Ms. Mansfield said. “Where I am is home.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/30/business/increasingly-retirees-dump-their-possessions-and-hit-the-road.html?emc=edit_my_20140908&nl=your-money&nlid=32663937&_r=0

Monday, September 1, 2014

8 key retirement dates you don't want to miss

In the words of Forrest Gump, blind dates are like a box of chocolates -- "you never know what you're gonna get." While the uncertainty may be fine for a blind date, surprises are the last thing you want when it comes to retirement.

In fact, there are several dates that trigger important milestones for current and future retirees. Here are eight retirement dates you don't want to miss.

Age 50: At the half-century mark, future retirees get some extra help in saving for retirement. They can make what are called "catch-up" contributions to both 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts. In 2014, the catch-up contribution limits are $5,500 for 401(k)s (increasing the total 401(k) limit to $23,000) and $1,000 for IRAs (increasing the total IRA contribution limit to $6,500).

Age 55: Early retirees can begin making withdrawals from their 401(k) plan penalty-free at age 55. This little-known exception to early withdrawals does have strict rules. For example, it only applies to ERISA-qualified, employer-established, defined-contribution plans such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans. It does not apply to IRAs. You also must have worked for your employer until you reached at least 55. You can't retire at, say, 53, wait two years, and then take advantage of this exception.

Age 59½: Just before you reach the big 6-0, you can begin making penalty-free withdrawals from 401(k) and IRA accounts. If you are still working and have a 401(k), you'll need to check with your plan administrator to see if it allows what's called an "in-service" withdrawal.

Age 62: This is the earliest age at which you can begin receiving Social Security benefits. Note that your benefits will be reduced if you begin receiving them early (that is, before your full retirement age as noted below). At age 62, the benefit is reduced by roughly 30 percent, although the exact reduction depends on your year of birth.

Age 65: Turning 65 is significant for several reasons. First, at age 65, you can sign up for Medicare. Second, those born before 1943 reach full retirement age for purposes of Social Security benefits (it varies by a few months, depending on your year of birth). And finally, those with a health savings account can make withdrawals for nonmedical reasons without paying a penalty.

Age 66-67: Those born in 1943 or later reach full retirement age for purposes of Social Security benefits during their 66 ^th year (if born between 1943 and 1959) or when they reach 67 (if born in 1960 or later).

Age 70: For those looking to maximize Social Security, benefit increases stop at age 70, even if you continue to delay taking Social Security. The rate of increase up to age 70 depends on your year of birth, as outlined in a chart provided by the Social Security Administration.

Age 70½: At this age, the required minimum distribution kicks in. The RMD sets the minimum amount you must withdrawal from pretax 401(k), IRA and other retirement accounts. The RMD requirement does not apply to Roth retirement accounts.

Rob Berger is an attorney and founder of the popular personal finance and investing blog, doughroller.net. He is also the editor of the Dough Roller Weekly Newsletter, a free newsletter covering all aspects of personal finance and investing, and the Dough Roller Money Podcast.

Yahoo Finance is answering your money questions on Tumblr! Got a question about your credit score, your student loans, your retirement portfolio, your health insurance, or anything else finance-related? Drop us a line: YFmoneymailbag@yahoo.com.

More From US News & World Report

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-key-retirement-dates-dont-144917696.html

Friday, July 11, 2014

The Kids Are Through College, You Retire Next Month, and You’re Dead Broke. What’s Next?

July 1, 2014 — Congratulations on getting the kids through college. With today’s out of control tuition costs, that was no easy task. And nice going with the retirement, we hope you get a hard-earned rest from a lifetime of work. The “Broke” part isn’t so good though, so here are 8 steps on how to help fix that.

Unfortunately you are not alone. It is estimated that only about half of baby boomers will be able to maintain their pre-retirement lifestyle. The Employee Benefits Research Institute’s (EBRI.org) 2014 survey reported that only 55% of retirees are very or somewhat confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. A discomforting 44 percent of retirees report having a problem with their level of debt.

Social Security was never meant to be anything more than a safety net. Yet among elderly Social Security beneficiaries, 22% of married couples and about 47% of unmarried persons rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income. The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit was $1,294 in 2014. Retirement savings won’t help much either, since only half of Americans over 45 have saved more than $25,000. The result – millions of baby boomers are going to living at or near the poverty level.

Unless you can be content scraping by on bargains and living on a shoestring, you’ve got to take drastic action, right now. Here are 8 steps we recommend (for more tips like these see our more than 100 “coping with retirement” articles in the “Financial” category of the Topretirements.com blog).

8 Steps to Take Right Now
- Postpone the retirement, if you can. The longer you work the more you can save, and the more time you can delay tapping your retirement funds. According to the EBRI, far more workers expect to work in retirement than actually do. The percentage of workers planning to work for pay in retirement now stands at 65 percent, compared with just 27 percent of retirees who report they work for pay in retirement. Whatever the reason for this split, don’t assume that you will be able to find work once you retire.

- Get out of debt. You will have enough trouble surviving financially without having to pay high interest rates on your debt. Talk with a credit counselor, cut your expenses, pay down your debt, take a second job – do whatever you can to eliminate this extra burden now.

- Start saving more than you think you can. Anything saved from this point is much better than nothing. The government will let you put extra $1000 into your IRA ($6500 total) if you are 50 are over, so take advantage. Unfortunately you are going to need a lot of money throughout your retirement, so some sacrifice now might keep you from living in poverty later on.

- Do not take your Social Security benefit until you absolutely have to. We are frankly shocked by how many people unthinkingly sign up for their Social Security benefits at age 62, even people who are still working and don’t need the money. Note that the age 62 benefit is 75% of the Full Retirement Age (FRA) benefit. Sure, it makes sense to do this if you have nothing else to live on and/or you have reason to believe you and your spouse won’t live into at least your late 70s, when the differential for early vs. late claiming equalizes. But by not waiting at least until you reach your FRA (age 66 for baby boomers born before 1955) you cheat yourself out of hundreds of dollars more per month, possibly for decades. If you wait until age 70 to claim your benefit will go up by 8% each year you wait past age 66, a hard to equal return. You also protect your spouse by delaying, because when you die your survivor will get your entire monthly benefit (assuming yours is higher than his/hers).

- Line up a part-time job now. As we mentioned most pre-retirees are overly optimistic about their employment prospects in retirement. That’s why it is important to do some planning before you retire. Do you have a hobby you can turn into a little business? Are you moving to a tourist area where there is a strong labor market? Can you continue to work in your present field on a part-time basis? These are questions worth planning for.

- Downsize your home. Long-time subscribers will know this is one of our pet peeves. But every month you delay moving to a smaller, more affordable and more efficient home eats into your available retirement funds. The money you save on taxes, maintenance, and energy could go into a nicer lifestyle – which sounds like a good trade to us!

- Move to a lower cost environment. If you really are going to have to scrimp in retirement you had better continue on with more drastic measures. A low tax state probably won’t make much difference if your income is very low – except for property tax. Some states, mostly in the south, do have lower property taxes. Our member William also recently reminded us that not just the automobile state registration fees but also the local personal property taxes can be much higher in some states. Also consider your energy bills, transportation, insurance, cost of services, and general cost of living – you can probably find a cheaper state or town than the one you live in now.

- Identify, and cut your expenses today. If you expect to be one of the unlucky baby boomers who looks forward to a diminished lifestyle in retirement, consider this your wake-up call. Take a hard look at your budget by cataloging all of your expenses, then see where you can cut. Developing this budget (including your income sources) should actually be your first step. As the sage of Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin, said: “A penny save is a penny earned”.

For Further Reference:
See “Which of These 7 Fantasies Could Wreck Your Retirement”
The Biggest Unexpected Retirement Expense You Never Thought of
Not So Much, A Million Dollars for Retirement
EBRI- Confidence Returns for Those with Retirement Plans

Comments? What do you think the future holds for your retirement, financially speaking. Are you among those who think they will be comfortable in retirement. What strategies do you plan on taking to cope if you find that you will need some extra help? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Source: http://www.topretirements.com/blog/financial/the-kids-are-through-college-you-retire-next-month-and-youre-dead-broke-whats-next.html/

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Men's Health: Get More Sleep: Sex Drive

Credit: Getty Images

Get More Sleep

In 2012, University of Chicago endocrinologist Eve Van Cauter subjected a group of healthy, lean men to sleep deprivation in a lab – the guys logged five hours a night – and monitored their testosterone levels. She expected some drop in the sex hormone – earlier work had established that men with sleep apnea are more likely to have "low T" – but was shocked to discover that after a week, these fit dudes had an average 15 percent drop in testosterone. Consider that science's standard T decline is a 1 percent drop per year for men in their late thirties and, Van Cauter says, "we're able to say that sleeping five hours a night, which many people regularly do, corresponds to 15 years of aging in one week." Hormonally speaking, of course. She adds that while a lot of middle-aged men talk to their doctors about testosterone gels to enhance libido and boost energy, "it's possible that an extra hour in bed might do the trick."

Let's be clear. The testosterone number on your lab report isn't the be-all for libido. But to the best of our knowledge, testosterone is the primary biochemical driver of desire. Keep those levels as close to your youthful high-water mark as possible, and you defend your drive against the predations of time, especially if you're one of the 25 percent of men with low T readings, in the 200 to 400 range.

Van Cauter explains that one reason testosterone is so tethered to the amount of sleep you get is because that's when the body produces some 80 percent of its androgens (male hormones and human growth hormones). And most of that production occurs during the first and deepest phase, "slow-wave" sleep. Sadly, this rejuvenating interlude does shrink with age. A guy in his mid-twenties may get 80 to 100 minutes of slow-wave sleep, Van Cauter says. By age 40 that number can be cut in half or more.

The remedy for that is straightforward: exercise. The man who regularly sweats can stave off half of his slow-wave sleep decline, Van Cauter estimates, keeping T levels high. This past spring, Swiss researchers refined the exercise prescription. They found that regular, vigorous exercise increased hormone-enhancing slow-wave sleep by up to 15 percent more than moderate-intensity routines. According to study coauthor Serge Brand, evening workouts, within a couple hours of bed, delivered the biggest bang for the buck.

How to Sleep Less and Function Better

Credit: Getty Images

I just finished reading a profile of Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark, and I gotta say, the man is a go-getter: first in his class at West Point, Rhodes scholar, victorious commander of the war in Kosovo, polished CNN analyst. But what really struck me is that, back in 1999, he conducted the entire 78-day Balkan campaign on roughly two hours of sleep per night. Clark seems to be just another in a long line of history's success stories who required bizarrely small amounts of sleep. There was Alexander the Great, who famously slept hardly at all en route to conquering much of the known world by age 26; Napoleon, whose personal motto was "six hours of sleep for a man, seven hours for a woman, and eight for a fool"; Thomas Edison; Winston Churchill; former commander in chief Bill Clinton. Then there are the people like me who consistently snooze eight to nine hours a night while these supersleepers (or should that be alpha wakers?) are up, changing the path of history.

Of course, the notion of sleeping less as a key to success flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which says Americans as a whole are grossly underslept – snapping at our spouses, nodding off behind the wheel, getting fat and sick from the hormonal imbalances that can be caused by long-term sleep deprivation. According to the National Sleep Foundation, as many as 63 percent of the adults in this country fall under that description. Yet 45 percent of us say we're just sleeping less to accomplish more. As James Gleick, author of the best-selling Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, has noted, "Cheating sleep is the closest thing we have to cheating death."

RELATED: 10 Products to Help Get You a Better Night's Sleep

But recently medicine has started to give us what we've been asking for. As understanding of the biology of sleep has improved, a handful of maverick researchers have begun to argue that a lot of us may be babying ourselves when it comes to sleep. This new analysis has spawned fledgling behavior modification techniques that are as radical and counterintuitive in their way as low-carb diets once were to the weight loss world, and it has heightened the controversy surrounding one very hot little drug.

As a matter of fact, it's the drug I'm on right now. It's 4 a.m., humans' most tired time of day, but 12 hours after downing a tablet of Provigil I'm still a house on fire, writing like the wind. Provigil isn't like the speed I took in college that kept me up for two days, jittery and wired, alphabetizing my CDs. This drug is reputed to have uncannily few short-term side effects; so far my only complaint is the mild headaches, which are suffered by 10 percent of users. I feel so calm and focused, in fact, I could go to sleep right now if I wanted to. But that's just it: I don't want to. Instead, I want to stay up and write and pay some bills and then maybe go for a jog.

ONE MIGHT EXPECT THAT SIX-AND-A-HALF TO SEVEN-AND-A-HALF HOURS WOULD HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH A HIGHER MORTALITY RATE, BUT DATA SHOWS IT HAD A 15 PERCENT LOWER RATE.

I am a little concerned about keeping this up for too much longer (I'm on my third night of three hours of sleep, with none of my usual naps or lattes). I'm also a bit nervous that no one – not Provigil's manufacturer, Cephalon, which won FDA approval for the drug in 1998 for the treatment of narcolepsy; not the U.S. military, which has extensively tested Provigil and allegedly handed it out to pilots in Afghanistan and Iraq – can say exactly how it works. But, hey, maybe that's just the hour talking.

Already, millions of nonnarcoleptics have taken Provigil over the past five years. Many of them are people with serious diseases, such as MS and Parkinson's, whose doctors prescribed it to help them to deal with the fatiguing effects their illnesses. Many others, presumably, are long-distance truckers and shift workers, investment bankers and somewhat somnambulant freelance writers who went to fda-rx.com, wrote in the "Describe your symptoms" box "I'm having a hard time getting all my work done because I'm tired," and had a package of pills delivered to their door second-day air. When one panel member asked if broadening the approved uses for Provigil might encourage more doctors to view it as a lifestyle drug, an FDA official said he didn't think so, but added that it was "not completely obvious" that such a development would be a bad thing. As he pointed out, if someone tired were driving next to him, "I think I'd prefer they be on it." Which reminds me, I have some errands to run.
If the new science of helping us to sleep less has some parallels to low-carb diets, then Dr. Daniel Kripke would be its Robert Atkins. In 2002 the veteran University of California–San Diego sleep researcher announced the results of a six-year study analyzing the sleep patterns and mortality rates of 1.1 million people. One might expect that sleeping six-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half hours (as opposed to the usually recommended eight or more) would have been associated with a higher mortality rate, but Kripke's data showed it was associated with a 15 percent lower rate, a finding that the National Sleep Foundation found unbelievable. "You have to understand, the NSF is largely financed by the sleeping pill industry," says Kripke. "I've got a million subjects that prove people shouldn't be afraid of restricting their sleep and seeing how they feel."

Scientists have trouble even agreeing on what sleep is or why we do it. What they do know is that sleep seems to perform important repair and clean-up functions, like the diagnostic program on a computer. The body's internal clock – which is not just a figure of speech but an actual clump of cells located in the lower front of the brain – tells the program when to run. And once it does we cycle through the stages of sleep every 90 minutes. Stage 1 takes us from wakefulness to the home page of nod. It's a transition phase, and it provides little or no recuperative value. Stage 2 is still a bit unclear, but it appears to be important for restoring mood and mental alertness. Stages 3 and 4 combine for our deep, or slow-wave, sleep. This is when the most significant restoration occurs: Growth hormone, so critical for development in children, is secreted and tissues are rebuilt. There's also a fifth stage, called rapid eye movement (REM), when memories associated with learning new tasks are likely stored and when we do most of our dreaming. (Interestingly, this is the stage suppressed by many antidepressants, which may actually help explain their effectiveness.)

THERE COULD BE ANOTHER WAY TO GET BY ON LESS SLEEP: SLEEP LESS. SERIOUSLY.
One theory is that Provigil works by overriding the go-to-sleep signals with commands to the hypothalamus, a key part of the brain involved in waking. Unlike amphetamines, Provigil leaves surrounding gray matter alone. Still, no one is sure how it gooses the hypothalamus, or what the long-term effects might be of regularly using it to cheat yourself of sleep's restorative benefits. "People used to think cocaine was safe," Kripke says. "In terms of a lifestyle drug, I'd say we don't know nearly enough about Provigil." All I know is that after four days of taking it at various strategic points in the day I had completely lost track of my normal sleep rhythms. Whenever I wondered if it was time to go to sleep, the little timer inside my head seemed to be flashing "00:00."

RELATED: Why Exercise at Night Probably Won't Hurt Your Sleep

If all this sounds too scary or untested for you, there could be another way to get by on less sleep: Sleep less. Seriously. "If you reduce your time in bed you shorten your Stage 1 sleep and lengthen your Stage 4," explains Arthur Spielman, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the City College of New York. "You become a more efficient sleeper. That's just logic." Long sleepers like me tend to putz around in Stage 1, take our sweet time smelling the flowers at the start of Stage 2, and eventually settle in Stage 3 and 4 for the really good stuff. It's classic inefficient sleep. But by carefully restricting our sleep over the course of several weeks we can train ourselves to maximize the sleep we get and eventually do just as well – maybe even better – with less of it.

As with all training programs, the first step is to rule out any underlying medical conditions. In a visit with Spielman I learned that I probably have a mild case of sleep apnea, which, in addition to making me snore like a freight train, has also likely been making my sleep less restful. Although some apnea sufferers have to spend a night in a sleep lab, and may even require surgery, for the time being forcing myself to sleep on my stomach seems to have fixed the problem.

At the same time I consulted with Anneke Heitmann, a sleep researcher with Circadian Technologies, a Massachusetts-based management consulting firm that advises companies with 24-hour operations. A bigger fan of the sleep-less techniques than Spielman, Heitmann helped me determine exactly how much sleep I needed using the vacation method: For three or four straight days you let yourself sleep as much as you want (as you would on vacation) to make up whatever sleep debt you're running. On the next night you will sleep noticeably less. That's how much sleep you need on a typical night.

RELATED: 9 Ways Lack of Sleep Could Be Killing You

In this manner I determined – much to my amazement – that I need only about seven hours of sleep. Then I started limiting myself to just the amount that maximized highly restorative Stage 3 and 4 sleep. The key was not to backslide and sleep in, even on weekends, which would just throw off my sleep rhythms again. In fact, if I was going to be out especially late on Friday or Saturday night, it would be better if I still got up around the same time and caught up with a nap.

I DETERMINED – MUCH TO MY AMAZEMENT – THAT I NEED ONLY ABOUT SEVEN HOURS OF SLEEP.

That first week on the new program and off the Provigil was difficult. I was even more exhausted than usual; when the alarm went off that first Saturday I hit the snooze and woke up at noon, more than a little disoriented and demoralized. But in a fit of uncharacteristic Wesley Clark–like discipline I stuck with it, and by week four I started seeing definite improvement. I was more alert, energetic, and – lo and behold – had an extra 90 minutes a day to, you know, do stuff.
Someday there may be drugs everyone takes to allow them to sleep just three hours a night. Even now scientists are studying the short sleepers among humans and animals, including migratory songbirds, which go days without shut-eye, and dolphins, which always have one half of their brains awake so they can surface for air. What researchers uncover could transform all of us into alpha wakers. In the meantime I have great hopes for my new sleep routine.

– Ben Brashares

Monday, June 30, 2014

Health Hazards From Sitting Too Long

Source: http://lifehacker.com/this-graphic-explains-all-the-health-hazards-of-sitting-1595834900

Thursday, April 24, 2014

3 Best Moves to Prevent Back Pain (Men's Health)

When done together, these simple abs exercises will strengthen your core and save your back

By Michael Easter, April 23, 2013,Roughly 80 percent

of men experience back pain, but now there’s hard-core pain relief. An abs workout may help your achy back, say researchers in Brazil. After cyclists with lower-back pain completed a core-strengthening program, 44 percent reported less pain. “Pedaling can create micromovements in your pelvis and spine, which can lead to lower-back pain,” says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. “Core work stiffens your spine and back, shifting movement to your legs.” A back-saving abs workout can help everyone from elite cyclists to desk jockeys. McGill recommends a 3-move routine consisting of the front to side bridge, curlup, and bird dog. Ready to try them? Watch the video below to see how to perform the exercises with perfect form. (We also sampled 6 back-pain treatments to see which one will Banish Back Pain Forever.)

Video:http://bcove.me/vs1k44u2

Source: http://www.menshealth.com/deltafit/3-best-moves-prevent-back-pain?cm_mmc=DailyDoseNL-_-1674854-_-04232014-_-The3BestMovestoPreventBackPain-link

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Less white bread and more sex... 15 steps to getting fit for summer

Feelgood factor: a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle could make a big difference to to your health

22 April 2014

Everybody is searching for the next big diet: the next starvation method to deliver short-term results. The reality is that real health and weight loss is staring you in the face.

Your body, when utilised properly, is a weight loss machine that will work hard to reduce body fat, increase lean tissue and become healthier. I'm going to tell you how to rev up your metabolism and regulate your appetite, and share the trade secrets that will help you stay healthy for life.
Supercharge your system and make your body work for you.

1 The Meal of Champions
If you want your body to work for you, you have to fuel it. Think of your metabolism as a furnace that must be kept stoked.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it fires up the furnace and turns your body into a fat-burning machine for the rest of the day. Skip breakfast and you will burn less calories during the day, you will be cranky, you will eat more and feel less motivated. Ideally choose organic porridge oats or eggs and wholemeal bread at breakfast time and, as a rule, aim to eat most of your carbs at breakfast and fewer as the day progresses.

2 Slow down
Ulster people tend to eat too quickly, without adequately chewing their food. Hence the body has to do extra work to break it down, and absorbs fewer nutrients in the process.
You should aim to chew your food for 30 seconds. Studies show that those who take more time to masticate their food have less of the 'hunger hormone' ghrelin circulating in their digestive systems. The simplest way to do this is to put down your knife and fork between each mouthful and let your teeth and jaw do what they were designed to do. You will also reduce stomach bloating, improve digestion and gain more energy.

3 Thirst v Hunger
The hypothalamus is the area of the brain that regulates bodily signals, including thirst and hunger. This means that we can often confuse thirst for hunger when we're not adequately hydrated.
Always have a glass of water at the first sign of hunger. Better still, aim to drink two to three litres a day, starting with lemon and hot water in the morning to flush out toxins.

4 The Stress/Belly Fat Connection
Stress causes the body to produce a hormone called cortisol, which can also promote fat storage, often around the stomach area.
Combine this with the natural ageing process, which lowers your metabolism and increases your fat content, and it's easy to see why middle-age and a wider mid-section go hand-in-hand. Many associate 'chilling out' with indulgence. The truth is that by relaxing the mind you will naturally increase your ability to get that waist back. Try turning off your phone for an hour a day, going for a 20-minute walk in the evening or practising yoga or meditation.

5 Watch the Clock

Your body has a natural circadian rhythm (24-hour cycle). From 8pm to 4am, your body is in the assimilation cycle. Your body is assimilating or absorbing nutrients from your food.

By eating late, your body spends a huge amount of time having to work at digesting your food when it should be sleeping. It reduces the speed at which you absorb the nutrients from your food, leaves you feeling bloated and full and affects your sleep. In an ideal world you should aim to eat your dinner at around 7pm, leaving time for a herbal tea such as peppermint to help you digest your food.

6 In the Bedroom

The aforementioned hypothalamus, which regulates hunger and thirst, also regulates sexual satisfaction. Sex increases your cardiovascular fitness, improves circulation, increases blood flow and, most importantly, releases a host of hormones, some of which play a part in regulating your appetite, specifically carbohydrate cravings. A healthy sex life plays its part in a healthy body.

7 Short, Sharp Bursts

We lead busy lives, struggling to get time for any training. Yet even five or 10 minutes of intense exercise can make a big difference to your weight, mind and body, turning it into a fat-burning furnace.

Short, intense and explosive bursts of exercise can fire up the metabolism, burn calories and release endorphins into the blood stream. Think quick sprints or jumping jacks – anything that breaks a sweat and gets you out of breath.

No matter what exercise you do, to force your body to get the maximum benefits from the workout you must ensure you are getting out of breath but can still hold a conversation. This is the zone at which your body gains the most from a workout.

8 Brown is the New White

Who doesn't want a flatter stomach, more energy and a healthier body? It's much easier than you may think. Simply drop the white carbs from your diet, replace them with wholegrain brown carbs and watch your body change.

Swap white bread for wholemeal brown bread, white pasta for brown pasta and white rice for brown rice. The white versions of these foods are higher on the Glycemic Index, which means they spike your blood sugar level which causes your body to release insulin to remove the excess sugar. The more insulin you produce, the more of your food is stored as body fat.

9 Press Pause

If you overtrain, your body will generally refuse to lose weight. You will be hungrier and struggle to train as hard as normal. You should take at least two rest days a week to let the body recover. This will ensure that you get the best results from your training.

10 The Spice Route

Adding spices to your food will help your body to burn fat, increase its metabolism and keep you healthier and free from illness.

Just increase the amounts gradually and you will grow to love spicy food. Need some inspiration? Add chillies to a stir-fry, ginger to juices and cinnamon to soups and stews. If you're grabbing a sandwich for lunch, add jalapeno peppers or a slick of mustard to your wholemeal wrap or roll.

11 Pros and Carbs

Every meal should contain protein. This has several benefits, including increasing lean muscle tissue, revving up your metabolism and helping balance insulin levels.

Ideally, you should eat 1.5g/kg bodyweight of protein a day. Eggs offer one of the easiest ways of achieving this. They are a complete protein, containing all eight essential amino acids and are full of vitamins and minerals.

12 Stay Strong

Many people eat when they are emotional, eating high-sugar/high-fat comfort foods that may make them feel better in the short-term but not in the long run.

One of the best ways to break this cycle is to exercise. When you're having a bad day or feeling low, you need to move. Movement will increase your energy and lower the emotional triggers that cause you to reach for the biscuits.

An hour-long walk will generally sort out even the most problematic of issues. This is especially true if you have had a bad day at work. Forget the bus and walk home instead. You will have worked out all the stress by the time you get there. Eat normally and avoid the pitfall of sugar-fuelled foods.

13 Sleep Yourself Slim

Sleep is the body's way to recover, regenerate and replenish. Deep sleep will aid your weight-loss process.

By turning off all electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bed, reading to relax the mind and using blackout blinds to keep the light out, you will help the body to completely relax and recover.

Leptin and ghrelin work to control feelings of hunger and fullness. Ghrelin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates appetite, while leptin, produced in fat cells, sends a signal to the brain when you are full.

When you don't get enough sleep, it drives leptin levels down, which means you don't feel as satisfied after you eat.

Lack of sleep also causes ghrelin levels to rise, which means your appetite is stimulated, so you crave more food.

14 Muscle Burns Fat

Muscle burns more calories than fat, therefore those who carry more muscle have a higher basal metabolic rate.

In fact, they burn more calories than someone with less muscle even while sitting at their desk eating a sandwich. As you get older your body naturally stores more fat and reduces its muscle content.

Hence resistance exercise is more important than ever.

One of my favourite exercises is the plank. It is fantastic for your core and is so easy to do. Start on elbows and knees, locking hands together. Now straighten your legs and raise your body so that you're supported by the balls of your feet, with feet hip-distance apart. Face the floor, being careful not to arch your back or stick your bottom in the air.

Hold this position for 30 seconds to begin with, extending the time as you get stronger.

15 Women's Health

When a woman is menstruating, her body will swell, she will crave comfort foods and often not feel like training.

It is key to recognise this, not panic and be more mindful of your body at this time.

To reduce swelling, increase your intake of citrus fruits and try boiling water with apple cider vinegar and lemon (cooled slightly before drinking) to help reduce the amount of fluid you gain.

Remember that women are naturally less hungry just before ovulation (mid-cycle) and more hungry in the luteal phase (pre-menstrual).

If you're feeling up to it, lifting weights as part of your training routine can help reduce the effects of PMS, improve your mood and reduce your comfort food cravings.

Most importantly, listen to your body and learn to anticipate the natural appetite peaks and troughs that occur each month.

We have a lot to lose...

More than half of all adults in Northern Ireland are officially overweight, while obesity kills around 450 people a year here, according to the Public Health Agency

Figures from 2011 estimated that the number of children in Northern Ireland between the ages of two and 10 who are classified as obese, is above 20,000

Three of the main health problems caused by obesity are cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes

European men are considered at high risk of these diseases if they have a waist measurement of around 40 inches or more (35 inches for Asian men), while for women, the figure is 35 inches or more, (32 inches for Asian women)

For further information and advice, visit www.choosetolivebetter.com.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/health/less-white-bread-and-more-sex-15-steps-to-getting-fit-for-summer-30204807.html

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Healthy food for your libido

February 17, 12:28

As people age, their sex lives often slow down. “Most couples want a healthy sex life because it makes them feel good about themselves physically and mentally,” says Ellen Kamhi, clinical instructor of pharmacology at Stony Brook School of Medicine in New York. “Unfortunately, as couple age, their sex drive can ebb to the point where they lose interest. But it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“This can be due to stress, anxiety, or depression,” Kamhi tells Newsmax Health. “Other factors include low self-esteem, unresolved conflicts, menopause, physical problems, or fatigue.”

While there are many methods to help restore sex drive, certain foods have been found to boost libido naturally, says Kamhi.

1. Pomegranate juice. New research shows that this tasty and healthy beverage that’s loaded with antioxidants also reduces the risk of erectile dysfunction.

2. Oatmeal. Besides lowering cholesterol, a bowl of oatmeal daily helps produce a chemical that releases testosterone, which helps increase sex drive.

3. Honey. The B vitamins in honey support testosterone production. Honey is also high in the mineral boron, which helps women’s bodies process estrogen, a function that is important for arousal.

4. Eggs. Eggs are high in vitamins B5 and B6, which help libido by balancing hormone levels and fighting stress.

5. Bananas. Bananas contain an enzyme called bromelain which may help increase.

6. Celery. This vegetable contains androsterone, a hormone released in men’s sweat that’s said to be a pheromone that arouses women.

Studies have shown that healthy people can enjoy an active sex life into their 70s and beyond.

NEWS.am Medicine

Source: http://med.news.am/eng/news/862/healthy-food-for-your-libido.html

Monday, February 3, 2014

How to Increase Testosterone

If you're looking for ways to increase testosterone, then I don't need to tell you about the benefits. Maybe you've tried a testosterone pill and know how you feel when levels are high - more energy, increased focus, improved mood, and a wicked sex drive. Unfortunately, most men begin to notice low testosterone as they grow older, sometimes even in their twenties! Low testosterone is associated with worse moods, lower sex drive, and less ambition. Testosterone has so many benefits it would be ignorant to ignore it. Especially if fitness is a priority, a top concern should be to increase testosterone.
Unfortunately, many men think that the only ways to increase testosterone are through steroids or testosterone replacement therapy. However, by simply making some small changes in their diet, lifestyle, and vitamin supplementation, men can optimize their testosterone levels.

- 1
  
  Take fish oil regularly. Fish oil has so many benefits you'd be crazy NOT to be taking it. Not only does it increase testosterone, but it cuts your chances of a heart attack in half, improves the condition of your skin and hair, promotes fat loss, improves recovery time after exercise, and aids your joints. And since it does increase testosterone, it also has an effect on sex drive and mood. Moreover, it's cheap! Do a google search for fish oil to find out more. One of my favorite fish oils, though one of the more expensive, can be found here: https://www.t-nation.com/productInfo.do?id=910074 However, you can find fish oil twice as cheap!
- 2
  
  Eat eggs, nuts, olive oil, and garlic. These three things are easy to implement in your diet. For me, adding in eggs for breakfast a few times a week has really made a difference. And you're probably not eating a good breakfast anyway, are you? Nuts and garlic are also a very good way to increase testosterone, as they contain healthy fats that are required for its production. Garlic contains a compound called allicin, which is great for testosterone. However, be sure to eat real garlic, as allicin breaks down easily and supplements may not have any left!
- 3
  
  Supplement with Zinc. Zinc is absolutely necessary to maintain and increase testosterone, and unfortunately many of us are deficient. Zinc also inhibits something called the aromatase enzyme, which converts testosterone to estrogen. All in all, zinc is a very powerful element. It's even better to take ZMA, which is zinc combined with magnesium. You can find ZMA at most health food stores.
- 4
  
  Broccoli and green vegetables. Broccoli is important to our testosterone levels because it, like zinc, inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. What use is it to increase testosterone if our bodies are just going to turn it into its opposite!
- 5
  
  Get in shape. Your muscle to fat ratio has a significant effect on your testosterone levels. Basically, you want more muscle and less fat. By following these tips, you will notice an increase in testosterone naturally, but when you add in regular exercise, it will have quite an impact.
- 6
  
  Stay tuned for my next article, where I will discuss the various herbs and testosterone pills that are proven to be effective.

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