Click here to view the embedded video.

Sponsored by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the fair brought together about two dozen groups — ranging from the Alzheimer’s Foundation to the SilverSneakers (you can seen them at work in the video above, promoting healthy and appropriate exercise) — for a three hour demonstration of their wares. AARP and the AARP Foundation were among those presenting.

Dr. Stephen Axelrod demonstrated his tabsafe medication dispenser (at left). You load the gizmo with pills, and it makes sure you take them on schedule. It has a lot of ways to remind you, and your loved ones, if medications are missed or if you don’t respond in a predictable way to its electronic signals. Microsoft and its Kinect were in the house; so was Wii. The National Institutes of Health promoted a major summit, scheduled for October, where they’ll bring together 50 top researchers to explore the connections between aging and chronic disease. And Christy Carter, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, described an ongoing project coordinated by its Institute on Aging, involving 1,600 older adults to determine whether physical activity or health education can prevent or delay major physical and cognitive  problems among those at risk. Listen to an interview with Carter below:

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging presented its policy priorities, appropriately for a Capitol Hill event. “Tight budgets,” they write in their brochure, “demand wise investment.” Their plea? “Deficit reduction must not be used as an excuse to undermine the very programs that keep our nation’s older adults from falling into poverty, suffering ill health or otherwise struggling to live independently and with dignity.”

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“Are you able to comprehend yet what happened here?” asks reporter Anna Werner.

“I know exactly what happened here . . . exactly,” Garcia answers.

Photo: Video image courtesy CBS News

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First Andrews. Under a cloudless sky in Boulder, Colo., on May 10, she began by finding common ground with the graduates at America’s premiere party school, claiming to have welcomed the dawn with them the night before. Then she declared kinship with the University of Colorado mascot — asserting that her own gender-bending role in the 1982 musical Victor/Victoria gave her insights into the female bison celebrated as “Ralphie.”

The heart of Andrews’ talk, though, was a much-better-than-average summation of the usual graduation day concerns: overcoming fear of the new and unknown, discovering the value of lifelong learning and turning adversity into opportunity. She also talked endearingly about the advantages of a rich life that includes the arts, in all their complexity and variety.

But the strongest section of her speech was the description of growing up — nailing the moment when self-awareness, self-satisfaction, self-self-self melted away, and she began to realize that life was about other people.  “Don’t just engage in random acts of kindness,” she pleaded. “Engage in planned acts of kindness.”

See also: Don’t Give Your College Graduate a Free Ride

Getting past your ego is also the subject of a short film making the rounds on the web, based on a commencement speech given by writer David Foster Wallace (his Infinite Jest is considered by many one of the best novels of the mid-20th century) at Ohio’s Kenyon College in 2005. Wallace committed suicide in 2008.

The nine-minute film, This Is Water, produced by a company called The Glossary, mixes music with excerpts from Wallace’s address, while live action scenes play out on screen.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You don’t need to know much about the prodigiously talented Wallace, or his difficult masterpiece, to appreciate the video. It’s inspiring and mind-altering in a way that the talk itself might not have been, with the graphics and personalities of the actors adding a human element to the text.

Wallace’s words are also clearly the product of a great writer, as well as someone who never found a comfortable way to be in the world.

If you’ve said, even once today, “Who are all these people in my way?,” then you owe it to yourself to watch this video, whether or not you can remember your own college graduation, or, like Julie Andrews, never even finished high school.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Why should we care, other than to know that if an alligator breaks his tooth while eating us, another will grow back?

Well, scientists writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States looked at the connection between stem cells and these alligator teeth-in-waiting, and they think they’re on to something.

“Humans naturally only have two sets of teeth — baby teeth and adult teeth,” says Cheng-Ming Chuong, a professor of pathology at the University of Southern California. “Ultimately, we want to identify stem cells that can be used as a resource to stimulate tooth renewal in adult humans who have lost teeth. But, to do that, we must first understand how they renew in other animals and why they stop in people.”

The researchers studied both adult and embryonic gators, and if we’re reading this right, yanked the teeth out of some of the grownups to study what happened next. (Now there’s a job for some enterprising young dental student …)

With an understanding of the mechanisms behind tooth renewal in alligators, the scientists — who are from universities in the United States, China and Taiwan — hope to learn enough to help people grow new teeth to replace diseased or damaged choppers.

Just don’t tell the Tooth Fairy.

Image by Untitledprojects via Flickr

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Well, if you want someone to blow on your ticket, you could do worse than to find retired postal worker Melvyn Wilson, a four-time winner of Virginia’s scratch-off lottery games.

“Mr. Lucky,” as Wilson, 72, has come to be known, just won $500,000 in the state’s Millionaire Mania game. He won the same sum in 2005, the year he also hit for a cool million. In 2004, according to the Virginia Lottery website, he won a measly $25K. If you’re keeping track, that’s $2,025,000 in nine years.

“I’m just in the right place at the right time,” Wilson says.

OK. We’ll try that. In fact, in a few minutes we’ll be heading to the Handy Dandy Market in Woodbridge, Va., the source of Wilson’s most recent winning ticket.

By the way, if you’re wondering what he does with his new fortune, he’s not at all shy about revealing that, too.

“I invest,” he says, “in Melvyn.”

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As Commander Chris Hadfield, 53, heads back home from the International Space Station, his video of David Bowie’s Space Oddity is trending on YouTube and approaching 2 million views exceeding 10 million views in just a couple of days. It’s being called the first music video recorded in space. Bowie himself is tickled pink, tweeting ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ to the astronaut in honor of another celestial Bowie tune.

Hadfield is using his new status as a social-media celebrity to educate and delight an audience that might not otherwise be interested in the science and art of space flight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield has about 850,000 Twitter followers. If you’re just meeting him today, catch up on this unique spaceman, courtesy of the tech website Mashable, where you can see Hadfield’s five most memorable moments in space, including a Google+ Hangout with William Shatner (that’s Captain Kirk to you).

Most of all, Hadfield has given new meaning to the old legend of astronauts having the “Right Stuff.” His personal, creative and inspirational messages have struck a chord in a world where spaceflight has become routine and NASA is ceding the future of space to the private sector. More than just the obvious appearances on daytime and nighttime TV, we hope that Hadfield can lead all of us to a renewed sense of mission, in the quest to leverage what we learn in space to solve our problems here at home.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Smartphone? He doesn’t mention the word. Up until recently, he’s been partial to “handheld personal computer.” Or maybe he’s smart enough to know that the amusement over his omission will drive viewers (70K 250K so far) to watch the three-minute video above.

But let’s take his premise at face value: Phones, smart or not, are changing health care in Africa, and possibly everywhere else.

Smartphone (there, we said it!) apps are helping seniors age in place, and helping everyone save money.

Apps are creating new models in the field of entertainment, dating, driving — you get the idea. And if you’re reading this on your phone, the Social Security Administration has got a site optimized just for you.

So maybe Gingrich is right: Cellphones need a new name. Share your ideas below in the comments box.

Here’s a video response with just the right amount of snark…

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The bracelet is inspiration for nitpickers, grouches and grumblers to change their ways. For every day you go without complaining, you keep the bracelet on the same wrist. Reach 21 days without switching and you earn a Certificate of Happiness.

Catch a fellow wristband-wearer complaining? Feel free to scold. Then move your own band, of course, and the offender will follow suit.

See also: The Benefits of Optimism

Admittedly, complaining can feel so good, so why stop? Stopping is beneficial for your health, says author and motivational speaker Will Bowen, and it makes you a better person.

As an example, he cites one of his heroes: “Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t stand before thousands in Washington, D.C., and shout, ‘Isn’t it awful how we’re being treated?’ No. He shared his dream of a day when all children of all races would play and live together in peace and harmony,” Bowen writes. “For you to effect change, paint a bright vivid picture of the problem already solved and share this with as many people as you can.”

Translation: Quitcherbellyachin.

Still, Alina Tugend’s recent essay on this phenomenon in the New York Times focused on the idea that complaining isn’t all bad, and even suggests that complaints plus action can equal necessary change. It got me thinking: Do oldsters complain more than youngsters?

Websites like wiki.answers.com, and answers.yahoo.com ask “Why do old people complain so much?” and offer answers like “their old they got nothing better to do u no” (yahoo) and “you may die any day and therefore feel you do not have the extra time to suffer fools and situations you would rather avoid, gladly” (wiki.answers). No point complaining about spelling, grammar or tortured logic; we’d have to move our notional bracelet.

On the other hand, studies routinely report that older people are happier. And AARP often offers all sorts of good news for our cohort, like Sex After 65 Linked to Happiness and Friends, family and good health are key to happiness in later years.“No use complainin’” about any of that, as George and Ira Gershwin wrote in Porgy and Bess.

For men like my dad, a son of the Depression, it’s no surprise that the world felt like an uncertain and sometimes hostile place. Complaining is what kept him fully engaged, at least until he was 70. That’s when he keeled over from a heart attack.

Wait, was I complaining? That’s my bond with dad, after all. I love to complain. Perhaps one day gene detectives will find the trait in my DNA. For now, I’ll have to decide whether the complaining that made dad’s life worthwhile contributed to his early demise.

If that’s the case, maybe a bracelet would do me good after all.

Video image courtesy of AComplaintFreeWorld.org

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That picture popped into my head last week when I heard the news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that more people now die by suicide than in motor vehicle crashes. Adults aged 35 to 64 were 30 percent more likely to commit suicide in 2010 than in 1999. Having battled severe depression and related suicidal thoughts, I realized that 2010 found me in the group whose suicide risk had jumped by the most — males in their 50s.

In honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month, here are five ideas about reversing this trend.

Related: Boomer Suicides Soar. Is the Economy to Blame?

1. Put an end to stigma for mental health treatment. There’s no doubt about it – seeking treatment for depression, perhaps the best way to ward off suicide, is still frowned on. And society’s disapproval may be worse for men. A Clark University (Mass.) study found that men were reluctant to seek help for mental health issues because:

• Friends and family members will view them negatively and lose respect;
• Their status as “real” men will be jeopardized;
• Male peers will reject and socially isolate them; and
• Coworkers will lose faith in their abilities and they might lose their job.

Ending these antiquated attitudes, and encouraging men and women to be treated for a full range of mental and emotional disorders will save lives.

2. Enforce “parity.” The Mental Heath Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 mandates that mental health issues be treated no differently than other kinds of sickness. Politicians who championed this legislation always compared treatment for mental problems to other ills — like diabetes and cancer. But anyone who has ever tried to get health insurance to pay for necessary psychiatric help knows that real parity is still a dream.

Mental health services are often downgraded to “counseling” provided by psychologists and social workers. Health plans are stingy with more expensive medication management and long-term therapy overseen by experienced doctors. That’s not the way cancer or diabetes is treated.

 3. Create a real safety net – in the community and at work. The feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that define depression and may lead to suicide are intimately tied to a sense of isolation. Because men, especially, are reluctant to share their diagnosis and struggles, they don’t take advantage of support, either at work or among their friends and neighbors. And those supports are inadequate.

Ask someone who is deeply depressed whether there’s a safe place to share their feelings at work, or in their community, and the answer is probably “no.” Can we create those havens?

4. Advocate for true gender equity. Pressure on men as providers may be less today, but it’s still there. With men and women as economic and social equals, they could share all the burdens of supporting their families and each other. I’m hoping all boats are lifted by a rising tide of equality, not that women bear an increased burden.

5. Increase support for veterans. About 70% of veterans who commit suicide are over 50. They are clearly not getting the help they need and it’s a national scandal. Write to your representatives in Congress and ask them to do more to solve this crisis.

Have suggestions of your own? Please add them below in the comments.

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Photo by mjviljan via Flickr 

After deer antler spray debuted in the popular press in January, when owners of a Florida lab claimed they had supplied it to injured Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, here’s how New York Times science writer Gina Kolata and sports reporter Mary Pilon explained the attraction: “…[It] is believed to make an athlete bigger, faster and stronger. It may boost muscle, reduce fat and improve endurance.” Equally important for athletes who are getting knocked around every week, it’s said to speed healing.

Purveyors of deer antler spray go even further. They market it as an anti-aging elixir that “works on your personality and helps you stay younger looking. It improves the tone of your body thereby decreasing any aches and pains you may suffer from. It heightens your senses and gives you the ability to think clearly.” None of those sales claims has been approved by the FDA.

The supplement comes from deer antler velvet. It isn’t simply “fuzz,” if that’s what you’re picturing, but part of the antler itself. It’s processed into nasal spray, pills, drops and other products.

The active ingredient, a hormone called insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1), is banned by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. It’s harder to detect than other banned substances like human growth hormone (HGH). It is a very small part of the spray, which is why the PGA chose not to punish Singh.

Like other athletes, Singh claimed he didn’t know IGF-1 was an ingredient in deer antler products. That’s believable because in a January interview with Sports Illustrated, Singh, 50, said he was using the product regularly.

So, should you stock up on deer antler velvet spray and pills? Will they keep you young? Here are some things you may want to know:

• Are there proven beneficial effects for athletes and others in consuming deer antler velvet? The key word is “proven,” and the answer is no. While IGF-1 could help athletes in theory, Dr. Alan Rogol, a vice president of the Endocrine Society, says in the New York Times article, there are no scientific studies to show the expected effects actually occur.

National Geographic writer Christine Dell’Amore reached this conclusion: “IGF-1 has shown promise for helping kids with stunted growth or people with dwarfism [in fact, the FDA approves those limited uses], as well as for healing cartilage or tendon injuries. It should not be used without a doctor’s care, especially as a performance enhancer.”

• Does it hurt the deer and elk to take their “velvet?” We can’t ask them, but in New Zealand, which exports a lot of deer antler velvet products, the animals are anesthetized before the stuff is harvested.

Photo by Princess-Lodges via Flickr

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