Audiology Solutions La

Many of my friends cannot talk coherently in the morning until they have that first cup of coffee. There are so many stories pointing out the problems with coffee and caffeine. Some studies are pro-coffee and some are negative towards coffee. Well here’s a great one study. Forget Blueberries and Red Wine. Coffee has way more antioxidants than any other food or drink we consume!! According to the folks at BrainHQ, the importance of this specific study is that it looks at the a...mount of overall consumption of foods and compares that to each other. Blueberries, pomegranates, green tea and red wine have great concentrations of antioxidants. However, we just don’t consume enough of these foods to really make a difference. You need to consume a large volume. (Of all the foods studied, dates were the clear winner in antioxidant amount over all the others) In the study looking at amount of food consumed, coffee came in #1 and tea #2. They far outdistanced all other foods. In fact it looked like coffee consumption was almost 5 times as much as tea consumption. And that is where Americans get most of their antioxidants. The antioxidant level is similar whether you drink caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee and/or tea. Now you cannot depend on all your antioxidants coming from coffee, so you need to seek a variety of dietary sources and consume different types. But if you love your morning coffee, drink on. It is good for you! See more

Helicoptering pets.go ahead! I had never heard of the term helicopter parenting before. I guess it refers to parents who constantly hover over their children. Not good. However, helicopter parenting is GOOD for your pets. In an online survey of more than 1000 pet owners nationwide, it was found, Those who expressed the greatest affection for their pets were also the most conscientious and neurotic, suggesting that the qualities that work for domesticated canine and felin...e companions who require lifelong parenting works. It just doesn’t work for children. The fact that higher levels of neuroticism are associated with affection and anxious attachment suggests that people, who score higher on that dimension, may have high levels of affection and dependence on their pets, which may be a good thing for pets, said Mikel Delgado, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and co-author of the study. There was a similar study in 2010 by the University of Texas psychologist Sam Gosling which showed dog owners to be more extroverted but less open to new experiences while cat owners are more neurotic but more creative and adventurous. This is the first US study to incorporate the principles of human attachment theory which assesses the bond between parents and children with pet owner’s personality types including whether they identify as a dog person or cat person. It is also the first study to find a positive correlation between neuroticism, anxious attachment and the care of and affection for pets. People who scored high on anxious attachment tended to need more reassurance from their pets. Conversely, people who rated high on avoidance attachment, which refers to a less affectionate and more withdrawn temperament, are much less needy. However, both dog and cat lovers scored low on avoidant attachment, which suggests both personality types enjoy close relationships with their pets. (Study published in Science 2.0) Hmm. I am not as neurotic about my relationships with our dogs as my husband. Sometimes I have to remind him He’s a dog. But truly when I feel sick or unhappy, I go to the dogs to comfort me with varying results. Obi, our golden retriever/English setter mix, would lick my face; Magic, our lab mixed with who-knows-what, would come into the same room and stay with me; Baskerville, the Malamute/German Shepherd, could have cared less (we think she was really a cat); Brandy, our golden retriever/cocker spaniel, stayed close; and Midnight, our American lab, not sure what he does. He comes running when HE feels upset and needy and demands our attention with loving and petting. I don’t think our needs trigger anything from him. But aren’t pets absolutely wonderful? See more

Science. First the studies say one thing and next day they contradict themselves. So here is the headline.Tired Science Says Don’t Just Take a Nap or Drink CoffeeDo Both, by MacLean Fitzgerald and published in Brain Foods on January 15, 2015. Huh??? Scientists have found that a coffee nap, which means drinking coffee and immediately follow with as short nap may be the best solution to beating fatigue. They think that the timing and interplay of caffeine molecules with ...adenosine receptors in the brain and introducing sleep causes the caffeine to work better at keeping you alert once you wake up. I thought caffeine kept you up and not put you to sleep. The article continuesBut the benefits of the coffee nap may not end there. For people who are chronically poor sleepers, coffee naps have been shown to help them perform better on cognitive tests despite being sleep-deprived overall. I always thought the idea was to get poor sleeper to be better sleepers. The nap needs to be short, only 15-20 minutes max. The article also said that if you don’t fall asleep it’s ok as long as you rest in a calm, tranquil, quiet environment and the effect will be the same. You just have to drink the coffee relatively quickly or it will mess up the timing of the reaction. I know that caffeine keeps me awake. I limit myself to one cup of coffee in the morning or a caffeinated soft drink at lunch. Then it is water the rest of the day. Even caffeine too late in the afternoon results in my having problems falling asleep at night. What about you? And what about the researchers? I’d love to find out about their sleeping patterns See more

Who was it who said getting old is not for the faint of heart? It’s true, isn’t it? Among some of the ailments we develop as we age, hearing loss and balance problems seem to be at the forefront. And when plagued by hearing loss, many people want to wait until it is bad enough to warrant a costly hearing aid. Wrong decision on so many levels. But the most recent study finds that hearing aids seem to improve balance in older adults with hearing loss. In a 2014 study publishe...d in the online issue of The Laryngoscope, researchers found that patients with hearing aids in both ears performed better on standard balance tests when their hearing aids were turned on versus when they were turned off. The study which was performed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that sound information, separate from the balance system of the inner ear, contributes to maintain the body’s stability. The study lends support to the idea that improving hearing through hearing aids or cochlear implants may help reduce the risk of falls for older people. This occurs because the participants appeared to be using the sound information coming through their hearing aids as auditory reference points or landmarks to help maintain balance. It’s a bit like using your eyes to tell where you are in space, according to the senior author Timothy E. Hullar, MD, professor of otolaryngology. Interesting. I thought I was better balanced in my yoga classes when I wear my hearing aids but decided this might just be wishful thinking. Now I see that there is some truth to this and perhaps the reason so many of my classmates wear their hearing aids during class. See more

Alzheimer’s 2 So what is Alzheimer’s really? In 1906, Alois Alzheimer presented a case study of a female patient exhibiting loss of memory and other cognitive issues. An autopsy of her brain showed the buildup of proteins that are now known to be hallmarks of the disease. These proteins form clumps known as plaques, which appear to contribute to neuron death. There are also tangles of protein fiber that disrupt the neuron’s transit system. Eventually the communication bet...Continue reading

My current AARP magazine has a feature article on Alzheimer’s. I was fascinated by the facts and information about this condition and will spend the next 2 articles on transmitting the info to all of you. Like all of you, I think I know a lot about Alzheimer’s. I was humbled to know that I don’t know very much at all. I knew that it is a cognitive brain disorder that usually affects older individuals, although occasionally younger adults develop it. I know there is no cure.... I know it is slow to progress and that the disease can linger for years or decades. I know that it tends to run in families. I know more women develop Alzheimer’s than men but that both sexes have been affected. What I didn’t know: Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in America; The cost of caring for Americans with Alzheimer’s has surpassed the cost of treatment for cancer patients or victims of heart disease; The number of cases of Alzheimer’s increases yearly; Alzheimer’s is federally underfunded compared to other disorders and research on prevention and treatment. This year, $5.4 billion goes to cancer research, $1.2 billion to heart disease, $3 billion for HIV/AIDS, and only about $566 million to Alzheimer’s According to Huntington Potter, a neurobiologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Alzheimer’s is going to bankrupt both Medicare and Medicaid. At this time, Alzheimer’s currently costs the US some $214 billion annually. Care of the patients will cost Medicare and Medicaid $150 billion this year and the remaining costs fall largely on patients and their families. According to a study by Caring.com, a website for family caregivers, 42% of families that include someone with Alzheimer’s spend more than $20,000 annually for care. Why has the federal government been so stingy about funding research? One explanation is that there is still a stigma attached to Alzheimer’s and other dementias and people don’t want to talk about it. The Alzheimer’s diagnosis is akin with a cancer diagnosis years ago. People called it the big C and refused to discuss it. Robert Egge, chief public policy officer at the Alzheimer’s Association, feels that the sense is that it is a problem but we have time to deal with it. Later this week, I’ll look at what is being done and the amount of money needed to actually research this correctly.

Beethoven’s deafness and its contribution to his composing great music has been discussed a lot over the past number of years. However, recent studies of his music suggest that he may have also had significant heart problems which accounted for some of the rhythms found in his music. Researchers for the University of Michigan and the University of Washington believe he had an irregular heartbeat caused by cardiac arrhythmia. Due to his deafness, Beethoven was highly attuned t...o the rhythm of his own heartbeat. When they studies the rhythmic patterns of several of Beethoven’s compositions, they found sudden, unexpected changes in pace, and keys which appear to match such asymmetrical heart patterns. For example, the researchers point to the final movement CAVATINA in Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130. In the middle of the quartet, the key suddenly changes to C-flat major, involving an unbalance rhythm that evokes dark emotion, disorientation, and what has even been described as a shortness of breath. According to the study authors, the arrhythmic quality of this section is unquestionable. They identified arrhythmic patterns in other pieces as well, including the opening of the LES ADIEUX Sonata (sonata opus 81a in E-flat major). It has been suspected for a long time that Beethoven had many medical problems including possible inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, alcohol abuse, and kidney disease as well as his deafness. It is impossible to prove or disprove that he had many of the diseases he’ s been supposedly afflicted with because almost all of today’s diagnostic medical tests didn’t exist in the 18th century and the physicians are trying to interpret medical description that are centuries old based on what we know to be true today. Zachary D. Goldberger, MD, lead author of the article who is an assistant professor of medicine and a cardiologist at Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine said, The symptoms and common association of an abnormal heartbeat with so many diseases makes it a reasonable assumption that Beethoven experience arrhythmia - and the works we describe may be ‘musical electrocardiograms. While these musical arrhythmias may simply manifest Beethoven’s’ genius, there is a possibility that in certain pieces his beating heart could literally be at the heart of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time. See more

Continuing my harangue on research telling us what we may already know, here’s one for you. Your pain impacts your mood. Duh. Isn’t that a no-brainer? According to this study, pain is closely tied to depression and anxiety. You think? In a paper published in the January 2014 issue of the journal PAIN, scientists reported the results of an analysis of seven years of health data involving 614 healthy adult participant in a long-running study. The scientists compared pain asse...ssments of participants with the onset of first-time depressive or anxiety disorders. The results suggest that pain, and particularly pain at multiple locations, is a significant risk indicator for developing depressive and anxiety disorders. Wait, there’s more. The link between chronic pain and psychological distress can be understood as a failure of brain networks, with systems unwinding and symptoms appearing according to David Borsook, MD co-director of the Center for Pain and the Brain at Massachusetts General Hospital. He goes on to explain, For example, a person in pain may suffer what is known as the reward deficiency syndrome, in which neurotransmitters associated with feeling good are diminished, and it becomes more difficult to enjoy the pleasures of life. This in turn can lead to the onset or progression of depression and/or anxiety. So next time I get to work late, I’ll be sure to tell them that my reward deficiency syndrome was active that morning and caused me to turn over and go back to sleep. Geez. See more

Oh dear. Do you ever wonder why specific research gets funded? I do all the time. Here’s one for you. Your season of birth may influence your temperament. According to a paper presented at the17th European College of Neuropsycholpharmacology Congress, the season in which you were born can play a role in determining your temperament. They analyzed the results of questionnaires and tests for 366 young adults and compared them with their birth dates. The findings indicate Wint...er babies were more likely to suffer depression than those born in other seasons but less prone to irritability. Spring and Fall babies were more likely to demonstrate a highly positive temperament. Fall births correlated with lower rates of depression. Summer babies (that’s me) had a greater tendency for frequent mood swings. Although it has been generally acknowledged that genetic and environmental factors play a role in temperament, the new research adds birth season as another potentially influential factor. So why didn’t they also give older adults the same test? Or is this true only for the young and you grow out of it? Great, just great. We have no control over when we are born. I think for the most part, our parents may not either. Doesn’t this smack of astrology signs? If you are born under the sign of Leo, you are strong, courageous and need to be the center of attention. Hey, that is me! Maybe there is something to this after all.

Ethics Vary Throughout the Day Oh boy. You’ll love this one. As the day wears on, we become less ethical. REALLY?? A new study suggests that our moral compass is more reliable when we face those decisions in the morning rather than in the afternoon. In a series of studies at Harvard and at the University of Utah, 327 men and women were studies to measure cheating or lying behaviors. Several different studies were performed. In one, the subjects attempted to solve math problem...s, some of which were impossible, knowing they would be paid 5 cents for every solved problem. They reported their own scores, giving them an opportunity to lie and thus receive more money. The result was that people who participated in the afternoon session were more likely to cheat than those who took part in the morning sessions. Why is this? Ethical decision often require self-control, which past research has found to be dependent on the body’s energy stores, much like a muscle. If it is heavily taxed, it eventually becomes exhausted. This study suggests that even the regular activities of daily life can deplete these resources. The study also hints that sleep is crucial for rebuilding moral muscle. Sleep deprivation hampers ethical decision making. The study suggests making ethical decision in the morning after a good night’s sleep. Wow. Can see it now. Officer, I am not responsible for my wrong decision because I made it in the afternoon. Please don’t give me a ticket. I promise I will go home and have a nap and recharge my ethical brain so that the rest of the day will be better. I bet that is one defense they never thought of. See more

I have been rather focused on sleep this year since my own was so poor and I was so tired all the time. So while reading my AARP magazine today, I came across another article about Brain Health and Sleep. Written by P. Murali Doraiswamy, M.D. who is a member of the AARP Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Doraiswamy explained the various functions that take place while you sleep. Seems you may sleep, but your brain doesn’t. In fact several parts are more active a night than curing t...he daytime. One is a newly discovered drainage system called the glymphatic system. Like your city’s sewage and recycling system, its job is to clear out and recycle all your brain’s toxins. Dr. Doraiswamy reported studies that indicate chronic sleep deprivation leading to irreversible brain damage. Short amounts of sleep may also be linked to shrinking brain volume. Chemicals secreted during the deeper stages of sleep are crucial for repairing the body and the brain. Another brain function allows all the information that we absorb during the day to be process and tagged. Memories are archived at night. He compared the brain to a library: all the books dropped off in the book repository during the day are dusted off and cataloged at night. A lot of work to be done in a very short time, especially if you are just lying in bed trying to sleep and not doing so. I think we all need to focus on our sleep issues in 2015 and try to regain the beneficial and rejuvenating sleep we used to get in our youth. As for me, my problem is much better. I am reading and following the cognitive sleep steps outlined in Say Good Night to Insomnia: The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program by Gregg D. Jacobs. The majority of nights, I fall asleep within 10 minutes of turning off the lights. And if I wake up in the middle of the night, I am able to resume my sleeping within 5 minutes. I am waking up refreshed the majority of time. I am still having individual days of problems but the non-problem nights are in the vast majority now. I hope you all will get this book and follow the steps. It works. Happy Happy Holidays to all of you. See more

Remember the cartoon from the Far Side where the man was disciplining his dog and would put the dog’s name into the conversation to make sure the dog was listening to him? The cartoon had the human words on one side of the panel and what the dog hears on the other side. The dog heard.babababa Spot babababa Spot bababa Spot. I have always wondered whether my dogs understood what I was saying. There are just too many times when they pick up their ears and act appropriately. ...Take Midnight, my 125 lb. American Retriever. I swear he understands certain words. Words like OK and out and walk and go. Use any of the last 3 and he immediately runs to the drawer that holds his leash. Obi, our 16 year old Golden Mix responded quite negatively to cursing and would run away and hide in a closet or in a darkened room like the bathroom. Just the word would set him off even if there was no yelling accompanying it. Now comes a wonderful study from the University of Sussex, School of Psychology in the UK that indicates dogs actually process speech in a similar way to humans. They reportedly listen to our words, not just our intonation. According to the study published in the November 26, 2014 edition of Current Biology, mammal communication researchers tested more than 250 dogs to see how they responded to a set of spoken commands. They found that, like humans, dogs use different parts of the brain to process the verbal components of a familiar sentence and the emotion or intonation of the speaker. Now the researchers, Victoria Ratcliffe, PhD candidate, and David Reby, Ph.D. don’t want you to think that dogs can understand the full complexity of human speech, but rather their perception of speech parallels that of humans. They show that dogs use the left hemisphere of their brain to process the verbal content of speech, and the right hemisphere to process the characteristics of the voice just like humans do. The study suggests that dogs pay attention to the verbal content of human speech and perceive it in a way that broadly parallels human perception. I am so relieved to learn this. It allows all dog owners piece of mind that they aren’t crazy when they actually think their dogs are listening to them and maybe, just maybe, understanding what they are saying. See more

Antarctica. One of my bucket list trips. There is a fabulous tour with National Geographic on their ship. They provide all the outdoor clothing and any equipment necessary. You actually get to go on the continent for 2-3 days to view the incredible landscape and animals who live in that environment. It’s only $15,000 apiece. I play the lottery every week in hopes to raise the needed cash. My husband took me to see a new documentary, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, yesterday. He ho...Continue reading