Blog Posts by Subject: Health and Medicine

A few weeks ago I attended an institute in Massachusetts and heard Margie E. Lachman, a professor at Brandeis University and Chair of the Department of Psychology & Lifespan Lab there, speak about cognitive and physical changes as we grow older. She was very forthright about the bad news, while being optimistic about the good news.

Let's get the bad news over with, shall we? Yes, aging does bring declines in both physical and cognitive health. But the good news is that you can increase protective factors which will minimize or even compensate for the declines.

The factors which protect against physical declines are: getting a good education; having a high 

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is the noblest; Second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. —Confucius

The New England Lifelong Access Libraries Leadership Institute took place in Newton, Massachusetts on December 1-2, 2008. Over 40 librarians from throughout New England attended, with the goal of getting tools, resources, and ideas to help them enhance public library services for older adults in their communities. I had the opportunity to attend and have written more extensive notes which you will find on the Lifelong Access blog. You will find slides from most of the presentations 

After attending a recent staff training session offered by the library's Office of Staff Development, I decided to return to a habit of my childhood--eating sardines.

The training, entitled Use It or Lose It: The Science and Practice of Brain Fitness, was presented by Alvaro Fernandez of the company SharpBrains. He filled us in on cutting-edge research in the field of brain fitness, covering an impressive amount in less than two hours, making it fun, interesting and memorable. This last in the most literal sense, that is, making the scientific details vivid enough that we can remember them.

In discussing foods and supplements that may help the brain, 

If I could choose a time and place to get old(er), I very well might choose the present time in New York City. Why the present? There are just so many of us over 50 at this time in history that I feel I am part of a seething throng (see right). We have power, resources, panache—I could go on and on. Plus, the global Age-Friendly Cities Project, initiated by the World Health Organization, has been gaining momentum and spreading, making the world age-friendlier one city at a time.

And exactly why would I want to age in New York? Our NYC is only the second city in the U.S.—after Portland, Oregon—that has taken up the gauntlet and joined the Age-Friendly 

Disturbing news from the NY Daily News this morning: Diabetes takes grim toll on New York. "New Yorkers are dying from diabetes at an alarming rate despite city efforts to stem the disease." Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden "blamed bad habits, like overeating, not exercising and smoking as major culprits, as well as a failure to control cholesterol and blood pressure."

"Diana Berger, a Brooklyn diabetic and city expert on the subject, said one of the biggest obstacles to controlling diabetes is stress."

How, with the stress of the holiday season rapidly approaching, and the many meals involved in our celebrations, do we begin to 

As my valued colleague hangs up his NYPL id and follows the dream of “westward ho” I ponder my own fate on the east coast and in particular the question, “Is NYC a place to grow old?” Stepping lively onto a subway, is that a future I'll be equipped physically, financially, and emotionally to handle?    

Another hectic work day is about to begin. The commute has been an exercise in frustration and when I finally emerge from the clogged subway stairs I need to make a quick dash to get to the office on time. Hurriedly passing Bryant Park I notice out of the corner of my eye a group of people purposefully moving slowly in unison. Risking a late start I take some time to see what they are doing. The movements are graceful and the participants seem much more relaxed than me. Overhearing a conversation between some passersby, I learn they are practicing Tai Chi. What is it about anyway and why can I never feel that relaxed that early in the morning?

Are you interested in finding 

So, you find yourself feeling poorly and make an appointment with your doctor. After the examination she decides to prescribe a drug for what ails you. She describes what the drug should do and answers your questions. Feeling satisfied, and with a prescription in hand, you leave the office. Halfway down the block, however, some doubts start to come to the surface: Did I ask all the right questions? Can I take the drug with grapefruit juice? How am I going to pay for it? You may feel the need for additional information.

Eee – gads, my morning muffin has how many calories?

Remember, back in the day, when one could enjoy one’s morning muffin under the delightful cliché, ignorance is bliss. Really, how many calories can a blueberry muffin have; it’s mostly fruit, right? Yes, I tell myself, a blueberry muffin is indeed a breakfast of champions, quite worthy of the Olympic festivities.

Well, the blissful days of guilt-free morning muffins are over. To my great horror, climbing out of the subway and following the aroma of fresh baked goods into my favorite little shop for my morning meal of a blueberry muffin, I came face to face with the sign proclaiming, 

The hype surrounding the Olympic games in Beijing has brought attention to a distressing health topic, namely air pollution and its impact on human health. There are daily updates and concerns about the air quality in Beijing and its effect on the athletes' performance as in this blog entry from the NY Times. New York City, especially in sweltering August, is far from immune to air quality problems. If you want a good resource concerning smog, ozone, and other forms of air pollution and their effect on human health, try this MedlinePlus health topic page which should give you the answers you need.

Welcome to the new version of the HealthInfo Blog! Susan Montross and I will be posting information about the Health Information Center's collection and current health trends as in our beta blog. We will tag our entries with the term Health Information Center so those who are interested can take a look at both of our contributions together.

So what the heck is the Health Information Center? HIC is a collection and staff dedicated to providing reliable consumer health information to patrons, staff and the public in as many formats as possible. Our emphasis is on consumer health, which is just the currently most favored term for information for the patient as opposed to the 

Residents of New York City, members of a metropolis that somehow simultaneously operates as a small village, are all familiar with certain “characters” who frequent public spaces. Today it is the “Naked Cowboy” one can find entertaining the tourists in Times Square, the affable gentleman selling vegetable peelers in Union Square, or even the kids who perform gravity-defying acrobatics on the A train. A similar character who was surely familiar to many in the streets of NYC during the nineteen-teens through the nineteen-thirties was Kitty Marion, hawker of the Birth Control Review.

OK, so I admit the link of  this picture to the Tottenville Branch is tenuous–it is geographically far from Tottenville, but this is where the Tottenville Branch librarian (me) was born! Sadly, the building is unoccupied and in a very dilapidated state. After Staten Island Hospital moved to its new location (sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s) this building was converted into an apartment building, but it went bankrupt after a few years. Some squatters occupied  part of it a few years ago, but they were evicted. I think there are legal issues that keep it from being developed. It is a real eyesore in the neighborhood, which is very close to where I presently 

Christmas has returned to Midtown again. We all know the holiday tableau – the brightly twinkling lights, the piping hot hot chocolate, the carefree skating in the park, and the happy shoppers thronging the streets overflowing with song and good will towards men. Being in Midtown is like living inside a snow globe.

And yet, to many New Yorkers, all this cheer feels terribly out of synch with an inescapable melancholy. Maybe it’s the incessant drone of canned X-mas tunes spooling out of the loutspeakers in Bryant Park, or the frozen spit on the sidewalk, or the way those happy shoppers never cease to get in the way (stupid tourists) when an underpaid New