Can Living With an Optimist Benefit Your Brain Health?

Does your partner always look at the world through rose-tinted glasses? If so, scientists found another reason to thank your cheerful and positive significant other. Apart from making you smile every day, your optimistic partner may also be helping you ward off cognitive decline as you reach your senior years. Interestingly, both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease seems to be a lot less common in people whose better half has a positive attitude to life, and the overall cognitive capacities of these people are remarkably well-preserved even in older age.

How Do Relationships Determine Our Health?
It is fascinating how much all of us are influenced by the community we’re surrounded by. Our friendships, for example, can predetermine our longevity and professional success. We have previously written about the multitude of ways friendships can determine our physical and mental health, as well as affect our brain health, having an overall positive effect on our life and well-being.

Even having pets has several health benefits to pet owners, among which are better cardiovascular health, greater mental strength, and higher resistance to stress. But a recent study from Michigan State University dug even deeper into our intimate relationships, seeking to discover the ways having an optimistic romantic partner could benefit our physical and cognitive health.

The researchers are convinced that a positive outlook on life in a romantic partner can make a real difference to your health. As one of the authors of the study, Dr. William Chopik, said in an interview with MedicalNewsToday: “Optimists do all sorts of healthy things. They are more physically active, maintain healthy diets, and avoid harmful things.” Not only that, optimists tend to be more proactive and inspire their partners to follow their ultimately healthy choices, too.

The long-term effects of these beneficial choices accumulate and ultimately become the most apparent as the couple reaches late adulthood. This is why the study tested 4,457 couples past the age of 50 over the course of 8 years, administering questionnaires and monitoring their health over time. The research revealed that optimists and those who have an optimistic partner were a lot more likely to have a better memory and other cognitive capabilities, and also had a lower occurrence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

In our opinion, these findings are quite fascinating! To put things in perspective, dementia and its most common form in particular - Alzheimer’s disease - are among the leading causes of neurological disability in seniors. Over the following years, as the average life expectancy will be rising, dementia and Alzheimer’s cases will become an evermore serious medical concern, with the number of cases expected to double in the next 40 years. That's why finding out social interactions can have a significant effect on the occurrence of the disease is a huge deal!

Does that mean that having a glass-half-full approach to life is actually better for you and your loved ones?

That decision is for you to make, but for the pessimists out there, we will say that learning to have a more positive outlook on life is possible at any age, if you set your mind to it.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Optimistic partners can make you happier, live longer

Having a healthy relationship with an optimistic partner can greatly reduce a person's risk of developing age-related health conditions such as Alzheimer's, dementia and cognitive decline.

The Michigan State University study has suggested that partners with a positive outlook provide support and lead their companions with an example, thus adding to their longevity and sense of well-being

"We spend a lot of time with our partners," said William Chopik, assistant professor of psychology and co-author of the study. "They might encourage us to exercise, eat healthier or remind us to take our medicine. When your partner is optimistic and healthy, it can translate to similar outcomes in your own life. You actually do experience a rosier future by living longer and staving off cognitive illnesses."

An optimistic partner may encourage eating a salad or work out together to develop healthier lifestyles. For example, if you quit smoking or start exercising, your partner is close to the following suit within a few weeks and months.

"We found that when you look at the risk factors for what predicts things like Alzheimer's disease or dementia, a lot of them are things like living a healthy lifestyle," Chopik said. "Maintaining a healthy weight and physical activity are large predictors. There are some physiological markers as well. It looks like people who are married to optimists tend to score better on all of those metrics."

The study, published in the Journal of Personality and co-authored by MSU graduate student Jeewon Oh and Eric Kim, a research scientist in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, followed nearly 4,500 heterosexual couples from the Health and Retirement Study for up to eight years. The researchers found a potential link between being married to an optimistic person and preventing the onset of cognitive decline, thanks to a healthier environment at home.

"There's a sense where optimists lead by example, and their partners follow their lead," Chopik said. "While there's some research on people being jealous of their partner's good qualities or on having bad reactions to someone trying to control you, it is balanced with other research that shows being optimistic is associated with perceiving your relationship in a positive light."

The research also indicated that when couples recall shared experiences together, richer details from the memories emerge. A recent example, Chopik explained, was Google's tearjerker Super Bowl ad, "Loretta," in which an elderly man uses his Google Assistant to help him remember details about his late wife.

"The things he was recollecting were positive things about his partner," Chopik said. "There is science behind the Google ad. Part of the types of memories being recalled were positive aspects of their relationship and personalities."

With all of its benefits, is optimism something that can be prescribed? While there is a heritable component to optimism, Chopik says there is some evidence to suggest that it's a trainable quality.

"There are studies that show people have the power to change their personalities, as long as they engage in things that make them change," Chopik said. "Part of it is wanting to change. There are also intervention programs that suggest you can build up optimism."

Across the board, everyone benefits from a healthy dose of optimism from their partner. For the glass-is-half-empty people, a partner can still quench their thirst. For the glass-is-half-full people? Their cup runneth over.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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Several physiological factors cause lack of libido in older women

Libido or simply put as sexual desire takes a hit after women enter their menopause but why is it so? Researchers have the answer!

A qualitative study completed by interviewing dozens of women about their lack of desire for sex into several major themes -- including sexual dysfunction in their partners.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Menopause which shed light on various reasons women in their 60s reported behind why they lack libido.

"If a woman is having sexual problems, what's going on with her partner may be contributing. Sex doesn't occur in a vacuum," said lead author.

Up to 40 per cent of women over age 60 have low libido, and about 10 per cent of them report feeling bothered by it.

Researchers conducted three 12-woman focus groups and interviewed 15 other women privately, depending on which setting the participant preferred.

Through these conversations, five major themes emerged -- Postmenopausal vaginal symptoms; erectile dysfunction in partner; fatigue or bodily pain; life stressors; and body image.

The most surprising thread here, Thomas said, was that so many women identified sexual dysfunction in their male partners as a major contributor to their own lack of desire for sex.

"Some women find workarounds, but others get stonewalled by their partner because he feels defensive. As women we're encouraged to be accommodating, so we learn to tamp down our own needs and desires, and prioritize those of others," the researcher explained.

Another revelation was that for some women, despite having retired from their jobs and successfully ejected their adult children from their houses, they were still too stressed to view sex as a priority.

Still, since most of the research on low libido in older women has focused on hormones, Thomas said, hearing detailed accounts from the women themselves produces novel ideas that may not come out of a large survey.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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