Age Wise

If you can just make it to 105, your odds of surviving each subsequent year of life seem to level off at about 50/50. That much scientists largely agree on. Yet one of the oldest arguments in longevity research is whether this statistical curiosity represents an actual “mortality plateau,” which would mean there’s virtually no limit to how long any one of us might be able to hang around, biology be damned.

“Death rates, which increase exponentially up to about age 80, do decelerate thereafter and reach or closely approach a plateau after age 105,” scientists reported in a 2018…

When I first saw her walk in late to the conference’s opening-night mixer, my brain went all fuzzy, I struggled to breathe properly, and I couldn’t concentrate on conversations with the dozens of other people I was being introduced to in the hotel lobby. A few minutes later, perchance, we stood back-to-back, inches apart. The rush of electricity was deafening. The hair on my arms rose. I later learned the current ran in both directions. Now, 24 years later, my wife and I have no doubt that love at first sight is a real thing.

But it doesn’t seem to…

Age Wise

Among the most underrated revelations of modern scientific research is the healing ability and protective power of physical activity. And I’m not talking about fixing your body.

Forget that moving more can help you live longer, avoid debilitating physical conditions or even battle chronic pain. Upping your level of physical activity, even by a little, can trigger a mental makeover, potentially making you smarter, less stressed and, yes, happier. Immediately, right now, today — and for the rest of your life. No matter how old you are.

“It is never too late to benefit from physical activity,” says Karmel Choi…

There’s the Face on Mars, the Man in the Moon, Jesus on Toast, and now the Angry Bird*. People around the world see these all-too-real figments. Meanwhile, I’m mesmerized by the endless stream of smiling, sad and scary people in my bathroom floor tile. Now science has revealed how and why our brains instantly perceive all these emotive faces where none really exist, and what all this has to do with the feel-good emoji at the end of this story.

Our common propensity to see human faces in non-human objects, even with the teensiest suggestion of facial features, is called…

Age Wise

Gone are the glorious days of youth when a good, long sleep was the norm. For many of us, some serious self-care is now needed to ensure a sufficient snooze. Scientists have several sleep tricks up their sleeves, and I’ll get to those.

But first, let’s face it: If you’re a typical American, you probably don’t get enough shut-eye. Here’s the percentage of people who do not get enough sleep, according to the latest federal data:

• Children: 34.1%
• High schoolers: 74.6%
• Adults: 32.5%

Numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. Each person’s sleep needs vary significantly based on a few…

Age Wise

This is the last in a four-part series on preventing depression, a serious and growing mental disorder that can strike at any age and, if untreated, persist and worsen.

Mental health stigmas, antiquated beliefs that psychotherapies are hokum, and social and financial barriers to treatment combine to keep millions of Americans young and old from getting much-needed help with depression, a common and increasingly pervasive mental health disorder that can affect anyone at any age.

“Only about half of all people who need treatment actually get it,” says Tracy Gladstone, PhD, a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for…

Cannabis has been associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts in people ages 18 to 35. The new findings do not establish cause and effect — the scientists can’t say if smoking pot puts a person at higher risk of suicide or if other factors related to suicide risk also happen to drive marijuana use. But the research, involving surveys of 281,650 U.S. men and women, held true whether a person was depressed or not.

Percentage of people with diagnosable depression who had suicidal ideations in the past year:

35% for those who don’t use cannabis
44%…

This is the third in a four-part series on preventing depression, a serious and growing mental disorder that can strike at any age and, if untreated, persist and worsen.

Antidepressant drugs can be an effective treatment for many people diagnosed with depression, particularly in the most severe cases. But these medications, which can have troubling side effects, are far from the only option, and for many people they simply don’t work. …