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Study Attributes More Than One-Third of Heat-Related Deaths to Climate Change
Researchers say ongoing heatwaves have a significant impact on public healthGlobal warming was responsible for 37% of heat-related human deaths between 1991 and 2018, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Researchers analyzed data from 43 countries from 1991 to 2018, finding evidence of increased mortality on every continent. And as heatwaves blanket the Pacific Northwest, spread across Siberia and…
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Mindful Meditation Promises to Benefit Health and Memory
Just 10 minutes a day can have a great impact on your quality of lifeMindfulness may sound like a trendy buzz word, but it’s nothing new. People have been doing some form of meditation since the 6th century BCE. The Mayo Clinic describes our modern understanding of mindful meditation as a “focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment.”…
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“St. Roch Blues”
The folk band sings a haunting elegy for friends lost too soon in New OrleansNew Orleans is a city where death seems to mingle freely with life. Its jazz funerals are legendary, its cemeteries are tourist hot spots. Ghost tours run nightly through the French Quarter, and every year on Mardi Gras day, the Skull and Bones Gang walks through neighborhoods at first light to wake up sleeping revelers…
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What Mole Rats Can Tell Us About Human Aging
Scientists are turning their eyes toward the longest-living animals for genetic clues on agingTo study human aging beyond looking in a mirror every day with increasing horror, scientists have routinely started small. They have examined fruit flies and lab mice, which are plentiful, reproduce quickly and are easily thrust into lab settings. Another presumed benefit is their short life spans. This has allowed researchers to observe and collect…
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“The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief”
In this book, a psychologist encourages the use of ritual in expressing our griefIn “The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief,” psychologist Francis Weller encourages readers to reconnect with their own grief; to hold and express it through communal sharing. Weller draws on his experiences leading “grief circles,” in which participants come together to mourn — rituals that create space for…
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Controversy Continues Over New Alzheimer’s Drug Aduhelm
Two major health systems have issued statements that they will not give their patients the drugIn the wake of the hotly debated FDA approval of the Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab (Adulem), two major U.S. health systems, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai in New York, have issued statements that they will not give the drug to their patients at this time. Citing concerns over the drug’s safety and efficacy as well as…
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Taiwan’s “Funeral Strippers” Liven Up Funeral Rites
The country’s unique tradition aims to attract crowds and entertain the deadWhile turning funerals into celebratory events is an increasingly common phenomenon around the globe, Taiwan has been honoring its dead in a rather unique way since the 1980s: with funeral strippers. Young women perform on what are known as “Electric Flower Cars,” where they sing, dance and slide up and down stripper poles, sometimes removing…
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Sleep Well Now to Fend off Dementia Later
New studies reveal that if you don’t get enough sleep now, you are at a higher risk for dementia laterIt’s well known that the quality of sleep a person gets has a great effect, positive or negative, on a person’s memory. However, there seems to be an even stronger link between sleep and the brain’s ability to function in older age.
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“I’ll Stay With You When You Die”
A touching, optimistic view of being there at the end for a loved oneNico Yaryan is longing on his 2016 debut album “What a Tease.” The whole album is fueled by heartbreak retold nearly identically in the scant press covering the album’s release. As the story goes, Yaryan fell in love with a Dutch student while touring Europe with a friend’s band in 2012. Shortly after the tour,…
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