Health & Wellness
 

Good News For Slackers: On-The-Job Naps Might Cut Risk For Heart Problems Published: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | 12:57 PM ET http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070213/K021306AU.html Canadian Press: LINDSEY TANNER CHICAGO (AP) - New research on napping provides the perfect excuse for office slackers, finding that a little midday snooze seems to reduce risks for fatal heart problems, especially among men. In the largest study to date on the health effects of napping, researchers tracked 23,681 healthy Greek adults for an average of about six years. Those who napped at least three times weekly for about half an hour had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart attacks or other heart problems than those who did not nap. Most participants were in their 50s, and the strongest evidence was in working men, according to the study, which appears in Monday's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers said naps might benefit the heart by reducing stress, and jobs are a common source of stress. It's likely that women reap similar benefits from napping, but not enough of them died during the study to be sure, said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, the study's senior author and a researcher at Harvard University and the University of Athens Medical School. Heart problems killed 48 women who were studied, six of them working women, compared with 85 men, including 28 working men.

Avoid Delays at Airport Security Checkpoints Restrictions on Liquids, Gels and Aerosols Still in Effect OTTAWA, Feb. 14 /CNW Telbec/ - At the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), our goal is to ensure that you have a secure and positive air travel experience. We also want you to avoid unnecessary delays at the pre-board screening checkpoint. Here are some packing tips for your upcoming trip. Please note that restrictions on travelling with liquids, gels and aerosols are still in effect. Should you choose to bring one of these items in your carry-on baggage, please make sure that the items are packaged in containers of 100 ml / 100 grams (3.4 oz) or less, and that the containers fit in one clear, closed and re-sealable plastic bag no larger than 1 litre  (1 quart) capacity. Only one bag per passenger is allowed. Liquids, gels and aerosols include common items such as water, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency. The exceptions are: 1. Baby formula, breast milk, or juice if a baby or small child (aged two or under) is traveling. 2. Prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger's boarding pass. 3. Insulin and essential non-prescription medication, such as contact lens solution. We advise you to allow yourself enough time for check-in. Check with your airline. For more information about items that are permitted and not permitted in carry-on or checked baggage, please visit www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca,  or call 1-888-294-2202.

The Grey Divorcee !!! Britain's Daily Mail Has Gushed That Grey Divorce Is An "Epidemic" In The U.K. Some articles on the subject Till death do us part? The risk of first and second marriage dissolution by Warren Clark and Susan Crompton http://www.statcan.ca/ Marriage has been on just about everyone's mind for the last few years. While the discussion was sparked by the debate over same-sex marriage, many thoughtful Canadians were led to consider just what marriage means in today's society. Marriage as we have understood it over the last 50 or 60 years seems to be losing its appeal. Marriage is being "de-institutionalized", in the words of American social researcher Andrew Cherlin, as old social norms crumble and couples must negotiate new, mutually acceptable standards of behaviour.1 Read full article The 27-Year Itch The only age group in which divorce is on the rise is people over 50. No more sticking it out. Enough is enough. http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070129_140063_140063 ANNE KINGSTON | Jan 29, 2007 Excerpts…. In Canada, the only age group that is seeing a rise in divorce is people over 50. The overall divorce rate, which hovers at 38 per cent, declined 11 per cent between 1993 and 2003, the latest year for which statistics are available. Yet it rose 34 per cent for those 50 to 54, 47.8 per cent for those 55 to 59, 31.7 per cent for those 60 to 64, and 9.2 per cent for those 65 and older. This isn't to say a "Happy Divorce, Grandma!" greeting card is imminent. Traditionally low rates of divorce among those over age 50 give any increases exaggerated buoyancy. It remains a statistical verity that the longer a couple stays together, the greater the odds that they will. But even in the absolute terms of "incidence of divorce per 1,000 population," a drift to older divorce is evident for both men and women aged 50 to 65: rates inched up by a percentage or so between 1993 and 2003 in all age groups. That may seem minuscule, but demographic shifts tend to be glacial, says Leslie Geran, a senior analyst at Statistics Canada. No country has been more galvanized by late-life divorce, however, than Japan. The number of divorces among couples married for 20 years or more hit 42,000 in 2004, double those recorded in 1985. Divorces among those married for more than 30 years quadrupled during the same period. The phenomenon of jukunen rikon ("mature divorce") has been linked to Japanese women's frustration with their newly retired husbands, nicknamed "wet leaves" for their propensity to cling. The theme resounds in popular culture: Why Are Retired Husbands Such a Nuisance? is a bestseller, and the popular television drama Jukunen Rikon featured a woman who dumps her husband after he retires. The enactment of a law later this year allowing a Japanese woman to claim half of her husband's retirement pension is expected to unleash a jukunen rikon deluge. What constitutes a "bad" marriage, however, is subjective. One in four respondents in the AARP survey said there were no major problems, they had simply fallen out of love or believed greater satisfactions beckoned. Bair talked to many who had fled comfortable marriages because they couldn't "go on living the same old life in the same old rut with the same old boring person." Yet divorce doesn't always offer a panacea: almost 30 per cent in the AARP survey spoke of loneliness and depression; almost half expressed fear of being alone; 28 per cent of women feared financial destitution. And for all of the lip service given to late-life mojo, 38 per cent reported having no form of sexual contact, the vast majority being single women. It remains to be seen whether On Golden Pond, that movie in which crotchety, devoted lifelong partners spend their last days together, will become a quaint period piece. Grant believes it will; at a family-law conference he attended in Chicago last year, it was posited three marriages will be the norm 50 years hence. "You'll have a starter marriage. You'll have a marriage to raise the children. You'll have a third marriage for companionship," says the thrice-married lawyer. Read full article