Scottsdale Health December 2019

news
/ by Lisa Kasanicky
Retirement Woes
Picture it – you’ve counted down the days to retirement,
and (surprise!) you can actually retire early. Well, maybe
early retirement isn’t all its cracked up to be. A study
conducted at State University of New York at Binghamton
University shows early retirement can accelerate a cognitive
decline among the elderly. While early retirement has
many benefits, including improved physical health and
more time to check things off your bucket list, researchers
found that there can be a much more negative influence
including a decrease in activities associated with
mental fitness and social engagement. For those considering
early retirement, take up a hobby or volunteer – keep
active and your brain will stay young.
Source: www.sciencedaily.com.
Multitasking Drug
Why create something
new when a
tried-and-true tool
does the trick?
Scientists recently
found that a drug
used in the treatment
of HIV also
suppresses the Zika
virus infection. In a
study of cell and animal
models, research
showed that rilpivirine
stops Zika by
targeting enzymes
that both HIV and
Zika depend on for
their replication.
While this is great
news for the Zika
virus, it could also
help treat other viruses
closely related to
Zika, including the
viruses that cause
dengue, yellow fever,
West Nile virus, and
hepatitis C.
Source: www.
medicalnewstoday.com.
How many things can you do at once?
More importantly, how does that make you
feel? Multitasking makes adolescents feel
both more positive and more negative about
the main task they’re trying to accomplish,
a new study finds. The study examined
young people’s actual multitasking
behaviors over a two-week period.
Source: www.sciencedaily.com.
Strict on Screen Time
It’s been widely talked about among parenting groups that too
much screen time is a bad thing, and a new study is showing
how. The study documents structural differences in the brains of
preschool-age children related to screen-based media use. This
particular study showed that children who have more screen time
have lower structural integrity of white matter tracts in parts of
the brain that support language and other emergent literacy skills,
and also have lower scores on language and literacy measures.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen
time for children under the age of 18 months, and less than an
hour for children ages 2 to 5 years old.
Source: www.cnn.com.
14 ScottsdaleHealth 12/19