Midlife Wisdom For Men Issue #051, January 31, 2006

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· Antioxidants Lower Macular Degeneration Risk

· BODY-CENTERED BREAKS

· Draw The Line On Work

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Written by Noel McNaughton Midlife-Men.com (c) copyright 2006 midlife-men.com

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If you like this e-zine, please do a friend and me a big favour and forward it to him. If a friend DID forward this to you and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting Midlife Wisdom for Men.

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Welcome to this issue of Midlife Wisdom for Men.

My mother, age 83, has macular degeneration. Our 65-year-old neighbour across the street has it. We have a 92-year-old friend in Vancouver who is totally blind from it. According to the Feb. 17, 2004 edition of Canadian Medical Association Journal, fewer than 1% of individuals in their 60s have it, but that increases to more than 15% of people in their 90s. It is estimated that 1.75 million U.S. residents now have significant symptoms associated with macular degeneration, and that number is expected to grow to almost 3 million by 2020. Some genetic engineering companies are working on a cure, but there is nothing so far. There may be a way to prevent it. See the short article below.

There are about 750 words in the articles in this newsletter, which should take you about three minutes to read.

All the best,

Noel

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The government says that there are nearly 50,000 people with HIV in Britain, a third of who do not even know that they have it. Is it just me, or is it a bit harsh that the government knows and hasn't told the poor sods?

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Antioxidants Lower Macular Degeneration Risk

Macular degeneration causes the macula, which is the part of the retina responsible for clear central vision, to deteriorate. People with macular degeneration have what looks like a black blob right in the middle of their vision.

It tends to affect whites and females in particular. It can occur as a side effect of some drugs, and it appears to run in families. Researchers at Duke University have found what appears to be a link between macular degeneration and a variant of the gene known as complement factor H (CFH).

Here is an article from a friend who got it from the Usana newsletter. I thought you might find it interesting. I have been taking a combination of Vitamins A, C, and E plus Selenium to strengthen my immune system. I didn't realize it was also good for my eyes!

A report published in the December 28, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that individuals whose diets contain high amounts of the antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc have a significantly lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than people whose diets contain lower levels of the nutrients. Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of permanent blindness in the developed world.

The current study included 4,176 men at women at risk of AMD who were participants in the Rotterdam Study, which enrolled 7,983 men and women aged 55 or older. Five hundred-sixty subjects were diagnosed with new macular degeneration during the follow-up period. Participants with an above-median intake of all 4 nutrients, beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc, had a 35% reduced risk of AMD compared to those whose intake of any of the nutrients was below average.

The results of this study suggest that high dietary intakes of antioxidants, in particular vitamin E and zinc, may reduce the risk of AMD and delay its development.

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ON BOTTOM OF COLA BOTTLES IN SOME COUNTRIES: Open other end.

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BODY-CENTERED BREAKS (BCBs)

My friend Sean Casey Leclaire, author of Hug An Angry Man And You Will See He Is Crying, has some "Body-Centered Breaks" on his website http://www.seanleclaire.com/bcb.htm that you can listen to whenever you feel a little too wound up.

Sean describes it this way:

The Body-Centered Break is a body-focused inquiry and awareness meditation lasting only two minutes and done whenever and wherever you are in your day. Benefits as described by coaching clients include: calmness of mind, overall sense of well-being, sharpened mental focus, reduced anxiety, increased ability of autonomous nervous system to recover rapidly from stress, and an increased capacity for learning.

Just go to Sean's site, and click on the 'play' button to listen to any of these Body-Centered Breaks:

HeadRest Long day? Stressed out in stop-and-go-stop-and-go traffic? Try HeadRest first! Soften!

Radiate Big day ahead of you? Want to dazzle, inspire folks? Experience the difference between force and power. Radiate!

QuietMind Too much happening at once? Spinning out-of-control? Frazzled? Don't let your mind ruin your whole day. Stop!

SteamValve Upset? Things not going your way? Down right angry with someone? SteamValve can bring release immediately. Breathe!

Even really busy people can spare two minutes to unwind a bit. Give a body break a try! I recommend it.

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Karl Marx's grave is just another Communist plot

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DRAW THE LINE between work and the rest of your life.

Work can eat your life. One way to guard against losing all your time and energy to work is to "draw the line". I heard this story in a video I saw some years ago:

At the end of the day, a manager of a company makes a list of all the things that are going to drive him crazy at night, and locks it in his desk. As he backs out of his office he points at the desk and says "stay". If the things on the list come into his mind at night he tells himself "those can't be mine. Mine are locked in my desk at work."

You may not want to go to quite this extreme to get control of your work, but it does not hurt to remember that you will never have all the work done, so do what you can each day, and then draw the line on work for the day, and enjoy the off time. The work will still be there for you tomorrow.

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A final note on the saga on the donation page: As you know, I have set up a page where you can make a donation to help support the midlife-men.com site if you wish. I had to set the amount at $10 (that is a one-time donation, not monthly!) so that Clickbank would take payments. It took me longer than I anticipated to get everything working right, but it is now.

The link is on my website at www.midlife-men.com/donation. I am happy to do this newsletter and maintain the site, as it is a part of my mission/service, but it does cost a bit, so any help is appreciated.

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In fairness, if a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

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Got your copy of Picking Up The Burning Feather yet? It will help you on your spiritual journey.

Just go to Picking Up The Burning Feather: A Spiritual Guide For Midlife Men. ************************************************

Just For You: A Free Do-It-Yourself Retirement Planning Report

If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, you will recall I promised you a link to a secret page on the Midlife Men's site where you can download a free 27-page report on 'DIY Retirement planning' by George Slater.

Welcome to the newsletter, and for your free report, go to: DIY Retirement E-Report , and follow the instructions.

Enjoy!

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Learn to be a Teleclass Facilitator

If you are a facilitator/speaker/professional who gives lectures or workshops, you can do it from home and make money. Teleclasses (also known as teleseminars) using telephone bridge lines, are becoming increasingly popular, and and a very inexpensive way to deliver high-quality training. I took training in teleclass leadership from Teleclass International which I highly recommend.

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Classifieds

A Destroyer of Compasses by Wade Bell, published by Guernica Editions, (Toronto, Buffalo and Lancaster UK) $15.00 Cdn

One Man's Mid-Life Crisis Led to Spain. Planning to spend six weeks, he stayed five years.

A book of stories the Toronto Globe & Mail called "an assured and sensual portrait of a culture" with "precise and ironic examples of human idiosyncracy." The review went on to call stories "gems."

Available from Amazon, E-Bay and local bookstores.
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I Need Your Questions and Feedback!

Got comments? Questions? I'd love to hear from you.

Just email your suggestions and/or questions to noel@midlife-men.com . I look forward to hearing from you. And thanks.

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Well friend, that's it for now. Again, if you enjoyed this and/or found it useful, and know of anyone else who might like it, please pass it forward. And if you have questions or recommendations, I would love to hear from you.