Health and Science

Dr. Daniela Jopp: Each centenarian has found a sense of meaning in their lives; a lot of people just have goals and projects that they pursue, and that’s another source of meaning; their singular will to live yields high levels of self-efficacy; they tend to be optimistic, and continue to look forward to their lives. more »

Significant improvement with the use of a combination drug therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer was reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. This is the first ovarian cancer study to use a combination of drugs that could be taken orally. more »

The overwhelming majority of the participants in these three experiments were more creative while walking than sitting, the study found. In one of those experiments, participants were tested indoors — first while sitting, then while walking on a treadmill. The creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when the person was walking, according to the study. A fourth experiment evaluated creative output by measuring people's abilities to generate complex analogies to prompt phrases. more »

This is what you look for in a hospice patient: the brow must be untroubled. Smooth, free of lines. There should be no grimacing. The face of the patient must be serene, peaceful. Tommy has an untroubled brow. His face remains ruddy. His body is calm, arms propped on pillows to keep him comfortable, two pillows behind his sleeping head. A loose sheet covers his quietly breathing, thinning body. Regularly scheduled doses of Morphine and Haldol, with an occasional drop of Atropine, are keeping my husband pain-free and tranquil, the goal of hospice. more »