Friday, July 16, 2010

Marriage is Good for Your Brain

I bet I got your attention with this title! The British Medical Journal reports that researchers in Finland have come to this very conclusion. They found that people who are widowed or divorced at midlife and remain single have a greater risk of Alheimer's Disease compared to people in that age group how are married. Being single and never married at midlife is also a factor. The researchers suggest that having a spouse provides additional mental and social challenges that stimulate the brain and delay the onset of dementia. I have my own thoughts on this matter. I believe that having kids has the opposite effect, it increases the chances of dementia. My wife and I are convinced that we both lost brain cells with the birth of each of our children, and the effects of this are very prominent during their teen years!
Blessings,
Dr. Paul

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Too Much Time On-Line?

Recently Gordon College did a study of Christian students regarding the amount of time they spent on social networking sites. They found that 54% confessed to "neglecting some important areas of their lives" due to spending too much time on a social networking site. 13% believe they are addicted to some form of electronic activity. I had to chuckle when I read this because of the reaction of my daughter when we came home from graduating college recently. My wife and I were both sitting in our family room with the TV on, but we were both on our individual lap top computers on Facebook. She, like many college age people, are appalled that old people like my wife and I are on FB. But she was also amazed at how these scene looked with both parents glued to their computers, sitting about a foot away from each other.
Are we eADDICTS? I don't think so, but we probably spend a little too much time on FB. It is healthy, however, to step back and consider just how much time you are spending on your computer, and on social networking sites. Let me encourage you to keep a log of how much time you are spending on the computer verses other activities in your day. You might be surprised at how much time you do spend on it.
Blessings,
Dr. Paul