10 small steps for better heart health

Change is an important part of living with heart disease or trying to prevent it. A jump in blood pressure or cholesterol earns you a lecture on healthy lifestyle changes. Heart attack and stroke survivors are often told to alter a lifetime of habits.

Some people manage to overhaul their exercise pattern, diet, and unhealthy habits with ease. The rest of us try to make changes, but don’t always succeed. Instead of undertaking a huge makeover, you might be able to improve your heart’s health with a series of small changes. Once you get going, you may find that change isn’t so hard. This approach may take longer, but it could also motivate you to make some big changes.

Here are 10 small steps to get you on the road to better health in 2010.

1. Take a 10-minute walk. If you don’t exercise at all, a brief walk is a great way to start. If you do, it’s a good way to add more exercise to your day.

2. Give yourself a lift. Lifting a hardcover book or a two-pound weight a few times a day can help tone your arm muscles. When that becomes a breeze, move on to heavier items or join a gym.

3. Eat one extra fruit or vegetable a day. Fruits and vegetables are inexpensive, taste good, and are good for everything from your brain to your bowels.

4. Make breakfast count. Start the day with some fruit and a serving of whole grains, like oatmeal, bran flakes, or whole-wheat toast.

5. Stop drinking your calories. Cutting out just one sugar-sweetened soda or calorie-laden latte can easily save you 100 or more calories a day. Over a year, that can translate into a 10-pound weight loss.

6. Have a handful of nuts. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and other nuts are good for your heart. Try grabbing some instead of chips or cookies when you need a snack, adding them to salads for a healthful and tasty crunch, or using them in place of meat in pasta and other dishes.

7. Sample the fruits of the sea. Eat fish or other types of seafood instead of red meat once a week. It’s good for the heart, the brain, and the waistline.

8. Breathe deeply. Try breathing slowly and deeply for a few minutes a day. It can help you relax. Slow, deep breathing may also help lower blood pressure.

9. Wash your hands often. Scrubbing up with soap and water often during the day is a great way to protect your heart and health. The flu, pneumonia, and other infections can be very hard on the heart.

10. Count your blessings. Taking a moment each day to acknowledge the blessings in your life is one way to start tapping into other positive emotions. These have been linked with better health, longer life, and greater well-being, just as their opposites — chronic anger, worry, and hostility — contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease.

What exercise can do for you

Millions of Canadians simply aren’t moving enough to meet the minimum threshold for good health — that is, burning at least 700 to 1,000 calories a week through physical pursuits. The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, particularly breast and colon cancers. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.

A well-rounded exercise program has four components: aerobic activity, strength training, flexibility training, and balance exercises. Each benefits your body in a different way.

Exercise at a glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:

• reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
• lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
• reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
• improve your mood and mental functioning.
• keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
• help you maintain a healthy weight.
• help you maintain your independence well into your later years.

Six types of IT learners

A new study from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario that looks at how people learn technology in organizations finds formal methods are least common. Hands-on and peer-based forms of informal and incidental learning occur most often.

The study also identified six types of learners: purposive planners, explorers, visionaries, problem solvers, reluctant learners and pinballs. The January 2010 issue of Impact published by the Ivey Business School defines the categories as follows:


“Purposive planners are very structured and self-disciplined in their approach. They plan carefully and with a lot of attention to detail, and once they’ve made their plan they act on it.”

“Explorers find time to learn on their own because they find it fun or useful. They might for example, stop in the middle of a task and spend some time looking at menu choices or drilling down into new areas.”

“Visionaries are people who find out about new technologies and think about what these could do for them personally and in their organizations. Visionaries are sometimes explorers. They tend to be lateral thinkers, and look at technology from a very strategic perspective.”

“Problem solvers are not necessarily interested in technology, but are very interested in mastering their workplace tasks. They tend to have a strong task-oriented mindset.”

“Pinballs are people who don’t think about learning, but simply bounce around between technologies, picking up knowledge while they’re being buffeted about. They tend to do a lot of incidental learning, and some actually become quite capable users of technology.

”Reluctant learners “are people who don’t really see the value of technology in their jobs. They simple focus on what they have to learn to survive in the organization.”

Individuals don’t necessarily fit into only one category. The interesting thing about the categories is that they tend to overlap. Some categories may relate to what someone does, while other categories might relate to how that person thinks.

Diet tips for lower blood pressure

Hypertension, stroke, and heart disease are common in the United States and most other Western industrialized nations. Epidemiologists attribute much of their prevalence to diet. After decades of research, scientists have concluded that the typical American diet is a recipe for hypertension and cardiovascular disease: too much salt, too much saturated fat, too many calories, and not enough fruits and vegetables. But the good news is that you can take an active role in preventing and controlling high blood pressure by watching what you eat.

Consume less salt
Doctors first noticed a link between hypertension and sodium chloride — the most common form of dietary salt — in the early 1900s, when they found restricting salt in patients with kidney failure and severe hypertension brought their blood pressures down and improved kidney function.

Federal guidelines advise people to limit sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day — about the amount in 1 teaspoon of table salt. Yet Americans typically consume 1 to 3 teaspoons, or as much as 7,200 mg a day. This fact, coupled with the high prevalence of hypertension in the United States, led researchers to assume that salt overload was the culprit.

As it turns out, this may or may not be true. Nearly 50% of people who have hypertension are salt-sensitive, meaning eating too much sodium clearly elevates their blood pressure and puts them at risk for complications. In addition, people with diabetes, the obese, and older people seem more sensitive to the effects of salt than the general population. However, the question of whether high salt consumption also puts generally healthy people at risk for hypertension is the source of considerable debate. Regardless of whether high salt intake increases blood pressure, it does interfere with the blood pressure–lowering effects of antihypertensive medications.

Keep an eye on fat
A diet low in saturated fat can reduce cholesterol levels, but its effect on blood pressure is not well established. It’s important to remember, though, that not all fats are bad. Particularly heart-healthy are omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fatty fish like mackerel and salmon, some oils such as canola oil, and some nuts and grains such as flaxseed. Large amounts of these fatty acids may help reduce high blood pressure, but their role in preventing hypertension is unclear. What is apparent is their effect on heart disease. A number of studies have linked modest levels of fish consumption with a reduced risk of heart attack and sudden death.

Boost your potassium intake
Consuming too little potassium can raise your blood pressure and your risk of stroke. Increasing dietary potassium may allow some people to reduce the dose of their blood pressure medication. In a study in Italy, 27 people with hypertension increased their potassium intake while another 27 followed their usual diets. After one year, 81% of people on the high-potassium diet were able to cut their medications by more than half, while only 29% of the people who followed their usual diets could cut back that far.

Before increasing your intake of potassium, check with your doctor. Some people — for example, those with kidney disease — may need to avoid both potassium and salt.

Get enough calcium
Some research suggests a low calcium intake may contribute to high blood pressure, but calcium’s exact role in hypertension is unknown. One theory holds that a lack of calcium in the diet predisposes your body to retain sodium, which raises blood pressure. For this reason, it may be especially important that salt-sensitive people with hypertension get enough calcium.
While there’s evidence that consuming plenty of calcium-rich foods and beverages may help prevent hypertension, efforts to control blood pressure with calcium supplements have had mixed results. At this point, experts are reluctant to recommend calcium supplements solely to lower blood pressure. But since many Americans simply don’t get enough calcium in their diets, and calcium is vital for preventing osteoporosis, few would argue against the use of supplements to boost your calcium intake.

The World's Billionaires

The world has become a wealth wasteland.

Like the rest of us, the richest people in the world have endured a financial disaster over the past year. Today there are 793 people on our list of the World's Billionaires, a 30 per cent decline from a year ago.

Of the 1,125 billionaires who made last year's ranking, 373 fell off the list--355 from declining fortunes and 18 who died. There are 38 newcomers, plus three moguls who returned to the list after regaining their 10-figure fortunes. It is the first time since 2003 that the world has had a net loss in the number of billionaires.

The world's richest are also a lot poorer. Their collective net worth is C$3 trillion (US$2.4 trillion), down C$2.5 trillion (US$2 trillion) from a year ago. Their average net worth fell 23 per cent to C$3.7 billion (US$3 billion). The last time the average was that low was in 2003.

Bill Gates lost C$22.3 billion (US$18 billion) but regained his title as the world's richest man. Warren Buffett, last year's No. 1, saw his fortune decline C$31.0 billion (US$25 billion) as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50 per cent in 12 months, but he still managed to slip just one spot to No. 2. Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helú also lost C$31.0 billion (US$25 billion) and dropped one spot to No. 3.

It was hard to avoid the carnage, whether you were in stocks, commodities, real estate or technology. Even people running profitable businesses were hammered by frozen credit markets, weak consumer spending or declining currencies.

The biggest loser in the world this year, by dollars, was last year's biggest gainer. India's Anil Ambani lost C$39.7 billion (US$32 billion) -76 per cent of his fortune--as shares of his Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital all collapsed.

Ambani is one of 24 Indian billionaires, all but one of whom are poorer than a year ago. Another 29 Indians lost their billionaire status entirely as India's stock market tumbled 44 per cent in the past year and the Indian rupee depreciated 18 per cent against the dollar. It is no longer the top spot in Asia for billionaires, ceding that title to China, which has 28.

Russia became the epicenter of the world's commodities bust, dropping 55 billionaires--two-thirds of its 2008 crop.

Among them: Dmitry Pumpyansky, an industrialist from the resource-rich Ural mountain region, who lost C$6.2 billion (US$5 billion) as shares of his pipe producer, TMK, sank 84 per cent. Also gone is Vasily Anisimov, father of Moscow's Paris Hilton, Anna Anisimova, who lost C$4 billion (US$3.2 billion) as the value of his Metalloinvest Holding, one of Russia's largest ore mining and processing firms, fell along with his real estate holdings.

Twelve months ago Moscow overtook New York as the billionaire capital of the world, with 74 tycoons to New York's 71. Today there are 27 in Moscow and 55 in New York.

After slipping in recent years, the U.S. is regaining its dominance as a repository of wealth. Americans account for 44 per cent of the money and 45 per cent of the list's slots, up seven and three percentage points from last year, respectively. Still, it has 110 fewer billionaires than a year ago.

Those with ties to Wall Street were particularly hard hit. Former head of AIG Maurice (Hank) Greenberg saw his C$2.4 billion (US$1.9 billion) fortune nearly wiped out after the insurance behemoth had to be bailed out by the U.S. government. Today Greenberg is worth less than C$124 million (US$100 million). Former Citigroup Chairman Sandy Weill also falls from the ranks.

Last year there were 39 American billionaire hedge fund managers; this year there are 28. Twelve American private equity tycoons dropped out of the billionaire ranks.

Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman, who lost C$5 billion (US$4 billion), and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts' Henry Kravis, who lost C$3.1 billion (US$2.5 billion), retain their billionaire status despite their weaker fortunes.

Worldwide, 80 of the 355 drop-offs from last year's list had fortunes derived from finance or investments.

While 656 billionaires lost money in the past year, 44 added to their fortunes. Those who made money did so by catering to budget-conscious consumers (discount retailer Uniqlo's Tadashi Yanai), predicting the crash (investor John Paulson) or cashing out in the nick of time (Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberte).

So is there anywhere one can still make a fortune these days? The 38 newcomers offer a few clues. Among the more notable new billionaires are Mexican Joaquín Guzmán Loera, one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the U.S.; Wang Chuanfu of China, whose BYD Co. began selling electric cars in December, and American John Paul Dejoria, who got the world clean with his Paul Mitchell shampoos and sloppy with his Patrón Tequila.

The math of a happy marriage

The eternal question: What makes a marriage last?

Now, thanks to a survey of 3,000 Brits, there's not just a pat schmaltzy answer, but a by-the-numbers recipe.

You need to say "I love you" daily, share two hobbies, and have sex three times a week.

And that's not all. You're supposed to communicate – phone, text or email – three times a day during work hours, enjoy two romantic meals a month and exchange four kisses and three cuddles daily.

In other words, you have to work at it.

Researchers interviewed people who had been happily married for 10 years or longer about their opinions and experiences. The survey was done for confetti.co.uk, a wedding website.

"People here are most surprised by the need for daily kisses and cuddles. Everyone seems amazed by that," says Confetti spokesperson Carol Richardson.

Brits need to relax that stiff upper lip? They're not smooching and snuggling enough?

"That's probably the case," says Richardson. "It's free, easy and we all should be doing it."

Researchers determined that the ideal couple in a good marriage likely met through friends and dated for three-and-a-half years before getting married. At the wedding, the groom was 31 and the bride was 29.

They waited two years and two months to have kids.

Somehow they manage to get away together three times a year for holidays and they spend three nights a week nestled together on the couch watching television. Presumably, to save time, this could be the same three nights a week they have sex.

But it's not all kissy-face. The ideal formula includes two separate outings a month – girls' nights and boys' nights.

"You need time apart to pursue your interests," says Richardson, "and bring something fresh back to the relationship."

by Nancy J. White

3 easy ways to tell if you’re overweight

Most of us have our private ways of assessing how fat we are. We feel our pants getting snug — or loose, if we’re lucky. We take a glance in the mirror or at our reflection in the shopfront window.

Of course, there are more objective ways of answering the question. Plain old weight is a good clue, but it’s a total that includes bones, muscles, organs, hair — not just fat. The tried-and-true way of measuring just fat involves getting weighed while fully submerged in water. The difference between your weight in water and your regular weight is used to calculate body density, and from that, the proportion of the body made up of fat. But few of us are going to subject ourselves to regular dunking.

There are other, easier tests: bioelectric impedance, skinfold testing with calipers, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (the same technology used to measure bone density). Gyms and fitness centers are beginning to offer some of these. They’ll satisfy the curious, but they’re neither necessary nor practical for routine use.

That leaves us with three more common options. By now, most people are familiar with the calculation known as body mass index. Waist circumference is a hot topic as it becomes clear that it’s the fat we carry inside our abdomens that’s most metabolically active and harmful. And waist-to-hip ratio is getting a second look because of research showing that the fat under our skin — subcutaneous fat — may have some benefits. Here is a guide of these three measures of our fatness, or adiposity.

Body mass index, or BMI, is computed by taking your weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square of your height in meters. The BMI is easy to calculate, and in most people, it correlates reasonably well with overall body fat. It’s also a good measure of health risk: as a rule, when BMIs go up, so do deaths, particularly from cardiovascular disease. But BMI doesn’t distinguish whether the pounds are from fat or from fat-free tissue like muscle and bone. BMI also doesn’t tell us about the type of fat we’re carrying—a significant shortcoming, as the type of fat that builds up in the abdomen is believed to be particularly unhealthful.

Cutoffs and categories are another problem. People with BMIs of 25 to 29.9 are classified as being overweight and those with BMIs of 30 or over as obese. But risk accrues more gradually than those sharp distinctions might suggest. There’s also a question whether the cutoffs ought to be different for some ethnic groups. Researchers have found, for example, that Asians develop cardiovascular risk factors at lower BMIs than whites, so the overweight category for Asians might start at a BMI of 23 instead of 25.

Waist measurement puts a different spin on obesity: it’s no longer about weight or total body fat, but about the metabolically active fat that collects around the organs in our abdomens. Waist circumference is a better predictor of diabetes than BMI and a good indicator of heart disease risk. Measuring it identifies the sizable group of people who pass muster when it comes to BMI but whose large waists put them at higher risk. Still, waist measurement hasn’t become part of routine medical practice for several reasons. For one thing, there’s some uncertainty about exactly where the waist should be measured, although navel-level is widely accepted. Moreover, the definition of too large a waist may need revision: some studies show that health risks start well before the current cutoffs of 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women. Finally, given all the other information that’s collected on patients—blood pressure, cholesterol levels, BMI—it’s not certain that adding a waist measurement to the mix would affect treatment decisions.

The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a simple calculation: waist circumference divided by hip circumference. A small waist combined with big hips yields a smaller number than a big waist with small hips—and smaller is better when it comes to WHR. For women, the risk for heart disease, stroke, and other health problems starts to climb at a ratio of about 0.85, so that is often set as the cutoff for a “good” ratio. For men, the cutoff seems to be about 0.90. Waist circumference has eclipsed WHR, but the WHR may be ready for a comeback. Research shows that WHR is more strongly associated with heart disease than waist circumference alone.

It would be great if there were a magic bullet for instant weight loss. But, the truth is that watching what you eat, reducing calories, and exercising more is the only tried and true way to change your weight and reduce the health risks associated with abdominal obesity.

5 important tips to preserve your independence

We all hope to stay active and independent for the rest of our lives. And as we age, most of us want to stay in the familiar surroundings of our own homes and neighborhoods for as long as possible.

A 20-year nationwide survey of people ages 45 to 74 identified five health problems that substantially boost the risk of admission to a nursing home: smoking, inactivity, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Over time, these problems contribute to many chronic illnesses that can cause disability and death, including heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and certain cancers.

What to do. Here are five things you can do to preserve your independence throughout life. Keep in mind that these changes interact and reinforce one another; the more you adopt, the greater the potential payoff:

1. If you smoke, talk to your doctor about options for quitting. We all know that smoking is bad for health, but here’s a quick reminder of how bad: it’s harmful from before birth to the end of life, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, osteoporosis, macular degeneration, and cataracts.
2. Become more active. Just 30 minutes of brisk walking five days per week reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes; lowers blood sugar levels; decreases depression; and helps activate genes that clear fat and sugar from the bloodstream.
3. Improve your diet through some simple changes. Add more servings of dark green, red, orange, or yellow vegetables or fruits to your daily intake, with a goal of reaching nine servings per day. And switch to healthier fats: skip trans fats, choose fewer saturated fats, and get more healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils and omega-3 fatty acids). Plant oils, nuts, and fish are all good sources.
4. To get your blood pressure under control, exercise regularly, don’t smoke, and consider adopting a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and low in red meats (and other sources of saturated fats), sweets, and sodium (salt). If improved diet and increased exercise alone don’t bring your blood pressure under control, prescription antihypertensive medications may help, as long as you take them consistently.
5. Talk to your primary care provider about bone mineral density (BMD) testing. All women ages 65 and over should have their BMD tested. If you’re at high risk for osteoporosis, your clinician may recommend screening at an earlier age. Be sure to get adequate calcium (1,000 to 1,200 mg per day) and vitamin D (800 to 1,000 IU per day).

Preventing falls

Among older people, men are more likely to die from a fall, but women are more than twice as likely to suffer a fracture — especially a hip fracture, which often results in long-term impairment and nursing home admission.

If you’re concerned about falling, have your clinician assess your situation, prescribe a plan to put you on a safe track, and help set your mind at ease. To avoid falls, try some of these proven strategies:

• Exercise. Weak muscles, poor balance, and limited flexibility due to arthritis often turn trips into falls. In one study, a fall-prevention program comprising strength training and balance exercises reduced falls and fall-related injuries by 35% in people ages 80 and over. Yoga or tai chi is also helpful.
• Check your vision. Age-related vision changes also contribute to accidents and falls. Have regular eye exams, and keep your glasses or contacts up to date.
• Review your medications. The body’s response to medication, prescription or over-the-counter, changes with age. Regularly review your medications with your clinician, and discuss the possibility of dropping or changing those that may be causing troublesome side effects, such as drowsiness, dizziness, or impaired balance.
• Remove home hazards. Improve your home’s lighting with higher wattage, fluorescent bulbs, or additional lamps. Night-lights or other nighttime lighting may also help. Coil loose electrical wires, and affix them safely along walls. Keep stairs and walkways uncluttered. Repair torn carpeting. Remove throw rugs or secure them with nonslip backing or double-sided tape. Rearrange kitchens and closets so that you can easily reach the items you use most often. Install handrails on stairways and landings, and put light switches at the top and bottom of stairways. Use nonslip strips or rubber mats in tubs or showers. Install grab bars in tubs or showers and near the toilet.

Can Hoodia help you lose weight?

Hoodia is a succulent plant that grows in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa, where the indigenous people (San) are said to chew the plant to help stave off hunger. The Hoodia species with purported appetite-suppressing properties is Hoodia gordonii. In the 1990s, researchers isolated an extract of the plant called P57, which is thought to stimulate feelings of satiety in the brain.

Phytopharm, an English biopharmaceutical company, was licensed in 1997 to develop P57. In collaboration with Unilever, it hopes to incorporate Hoodia as a food additive in meal replacement products pending clinical studies of its safety and effectiveness. So far, efforts to synthesize P57 on a large scale (an important step in developing an appetite-suppressant drug) haven’t panned out.

There’s no good evidence that the Hoodia products you mention are safe or effective weight-loss agents. Internet vendors often cite a trial showing that after two weeks, subjects taking Hoodia ate 1,000 fewer calories per day than those taking a placebo. But the study involved only 18 people, was never peer-reviewed or published, and was sponsored by Phytopharm. The only published study has been in rats, which consumed less food after P57 was injected into their brains (Brain Research, Sept. 10, 2004). Although that study shed some light on the extract’s activity (it affected neurons in the hypothalamus), the results clearly don’t apply to humans swallowing a pill or capsule.

Also, it’s uncertain what’s actually contained in Hoodia supplements, which aren’t regulated by the FDA. Experts say there aren’t enough Hoodia plants in the world to account for all the alleged Hoodia products on the market. Some may contain little or no Hoodia gordonii, include the wrong plant parts, or use questionable plant sources. We also don’t know the dose needed to achieve weight loss or the drug’s safe upper limit.

There’s simply too little evidence to say whether any of the Hoodia now on the market works or is safe to use. We may know more down the road, but until then, you should probably avoid it.

— Celeste Robb-Nicholson, M.D.
Editor in Chief, Harvard Women’s Health Watch

How to tell when someone’s having a stroke

1. Crooked smile. Have the person smile or show his or her teeth. If one side doesn’t move as well as the other or seems to droop, that could be sign of a stroke.

2. Arm drift. Have the person close his or her eyes and hold his or her arms straight out in front for about 10 seconds. If one arm does not move, or one arm winds up drifting down more than the other, they may be having a stroke.

3. Slurred speech. Have the person say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” or some other simple, familiar saying. If the person slurs the words, gets some words wrong, or is unable to speak, that could be sign of a stroke.

The Gender Gap

Female centenarians outnumber males by a 9:1 ratio. The longest documented life was that of a French woman, Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122. And throughout most of the world, women, on average, live longer than men. Some researchers say it is estrogen that gives women the longevity edge. Others theorize that menstruation and systems related to childbirth better equip women to rid their bodies of toxins. Women also tend to be more social than men, and social connections are believed to be critical to weathering old age.

Yet the men who reach their 100th birthday are, on the whole, healthier than the women. They are far less likely to have dementia or other serious medical problems. Thomas Perls, head of the New England Centenarian Study, calls these men “aging uperstars.”

Longevity statistics favoring women suggest that there may be some protective genes lurking on the X chromosome, the sex chromosome that women have two copies of and men
only one. Another possibility: genetics are relatively neutral but social conditions favor long life for women.

Multitasking?

Doing too many things at once may not be saving us any time, and could be harming our health

Christine Rosen
special to the star

In the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice to his son: "There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time."

To Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one's time, it was a mark of intelligence, while "hurry, bustle, and agitation are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind."

In modern times, hurry, bustle, and agitation are so much a way of life that we have a word for it: multitasking.

Used for decades to describe the parallel processing abilities of computers, multitasking is now shorthand for the human attempt to do simultaneously as many things as possible, as quickly as possible, preferably marshalling the power of as many technologies as possible.

In recent years, however, challenges to the ethos of multitasking have begun to emerge.

Numerous studies have shown the sometimes-fatal danger of using cellphones and other electronic devices while driving.

In the business world, where concerns about time-management are perennial, warnings about workplace distractions spawned by a multitasking culture are on the rise.

"Workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers," a 2005 British study found.

Among the many scientific explorations of the phenomenon is the work of psychologist René Marois of Vanderbilt University, who used scans to track what happens when the brain is forced to respond to several stimuli at once. Marois found that task-switching leads to time lost as the brain determines which task to perform – bearing out Chesterton's point about efficiency or lack thereof.

And for teens who insist they can listen to music, watch TV, surf the Net and do their homework, all at the same time, psychology professor Russell Poldrack has bad news.

Poldrack, of the University of California, Los Angeles, did a study that found multitasking adversely affects learning. "Even if you learn while multitasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily," he says.

His research demonstrates that when people are distracted, they use different areas of the brain for learning and storing new information. Brain scans of people who are distracted or multitasking show activity in the striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning new skills; brain scans of people who are not distracted show activity in the hippocampus, a region involved in storing and recalling information.

"We have to be aware that there is a cost to the way that our society is changing, that humans are not built to work this way," Poldrack warned in a recent radio interview. "We're really built to focus. And when we sort of force ourselves to multitask, we're driving ourselves to perhaps be less efficient in the long run even though it sometimes feels like we're being more efficient."

As educational psychologist Jane Healy told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I think this generation of kids is guinea pigs." She worries they could grow into adults who engage in "very quick but very shallow thinking."

When we talk about multitasking, we are really talking about attention: the art of paying attention, the ability to shift our attention and, more broadly, to exercise judgment about what objects are worthy of our attention.

People who have achieved great things often credit a finely honed skill for paying attention. When asked about his particular genius, Isaac Newton responded that if he had made any discoveries, it was "owing more to patient attention than to any other talent."

William James, the great psychologist who wrote at length about the varieties of human attention, compared adults' stream of thought to a river – "easy simple flowing predominates in it, the drift of things is with the pull of gravity, and effortless attention is the rule."

In contrast, the youthful mind is characterized by an "extreme mobility of the attention" that "makes the child seem to belong less to himself than to every object which happens to catch his notice."

Like Chesterfield, James believed the transition from youthful distraction to mature attention was in large part the result of personal mastery and discipline – and so was illustrative of character.

"The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again," he wrote, "is the very root of judgment, character and will."

Today, our collective will to pay attention seems fairly weak. We require advice books to teach us how to avoid distraction. In the not-too-distant future, we may even need new gadgets to help us overcome the unintended attention deficits created by the gadgets that exist today.

Like the devices placed on engines so that people can't drive cars beyond a certain speed, there may be "time nannies" (as a New York Times writer speculated) to help us manage our multitasking. These technological governors would prompt us with reminders to set mental limits when we try to do too much, too quickly, all at once.

Then again, perhaps we will simply adjust. For the younger generation of multitaskers, after all, the great electronic din is an expected part of everyday life.

But given what neuroscience and anecdotal evidence have shown, this state of constant intentional self-distraction could well be of profound detriment to individual and cultural well-being.

When people do their work only in what James called the "interstices of their mind-wandering," with crumbs of attention rationed out among many tasks, their culture may gain in information, but it will surely weaken in wisdom.

Quake in China Leaves Behind Thousands of Orphans

The earthquake in southwestern China displaced five million people, and many families were separated, leaving parents and children still looking for their loved ones. In the chaos, there has been a special outpouring of concern for the thousands of children who may have been orphaned.

Tens of thousands of refugees now live around this stadium - their homes were destroyed in the earthquake. Names ring out on the loudspeaker of people who are still missing.

Many of the homeless are children who have gotten separated from their parents. Their big concern is who will take care of them in the days to come, especially if it turns out that their parents are among the tens of thousands killed by the quake.

The Chinese government already is working to sign people who may want adopt some of those orphans.

For now, though, adoption officials are keeping unaccompanied children inside the gymnasium, to keep them safe while they search for their parents. After two months, any children who have not found their parents or other relatives will be registered as orphans.

Violence and video games

Thirteen-year-old Darren and a half dozen of his video game-playing friends are sitting around a table at the Boys and Girls Club in a working-class section of Boston. We're talking about the games, especially the violent ones. They've all played them.

Darren had a tough time in school earlier this week. On Monday, a teacher said something that embarrassed him in front of his classmates. When he went home that afternoon, he plugged in his video game console, loaded Grand Theft Auto III, blew up a few cars and shot a half-dozen people, including a young blond woman. When asked, Darren admits that the woman he killed in the game looked a lot like his teacher.

If you listen to the politicians and the pundits, the relationship is blindingly clear: playing violent video games leads children to engage in real-world violence or, at the very least, to become more aggressive.

March Break

Students here have a really good life almost every month there is day off. My daughter only needs to go to school 5 days in March. The first week was field trip then 2 weeks March Break after that there are Easter holidays.

It is not easy for parents consider most family have both husband and wife working. I don't understand School system here. They are not helping the kids at all. I remember I heard on Radio that our Premier urges teachers to give school kids a break not do force them to hand in their home work as they have a busy life.

What the heck, what kind of advice is that? Our kids have enough bad influences from media already we don’t need that from our school system. What happen to discipline, integrity and respect? Shouldn't our kids learn these from school?

I understand our kids need some freedom to be creative and enjoy their life but at the same time they need to learn to be responsible and hardworking. I hope our school system can educate our next generation, encourage team work and community support rather than creating all these self-centre monsters.

Tax time

It is always been a busy month in February, not only it is the shortest but it packed with all these festivities like Chinese New Year, Valentine Day, and the new Family Day. But one thing that bothers me the most is the RRSP contribution deadline. Every year I will be scratching my head to figure out my contribution and the worst part is to find the money. It is very dreadful to most people as they have to decide where to put there RRSP investment. Fortunately most financial institutions are already aware of these so they let you park the money and decide later.

This year the stock market is not looking good so GIC or Bond will probably be most common choice. I always think that the people that come up with this RRSP idea is genius. It really helps the government and financial market to release a lot of pressure. Imagine all the money coming every year to support the financial market and the retired people.

So now let me finish my RRSP contribution and start filing my Tax return. By the way, QuickTax is being stingy this year. They only allow 2 returns per copy instead of 5 so beware if you are sharing with family or friends.

The Case for a Creator

I'm reading a book called 'The Case for a Creator' by Lee Strobel. It is quite interesting the author was an atheist journalist and after interviewed with many scientists and scholars he found many scientific evidences that support a creator for this universe.

Lee revealed some of the myths and discrepancies discovered in Darwinism, and lots of thrilling discoveries from cosmology, cellular biology, DNA research, astronomy, physics, and human consciousness that present astonishing evidence.

This is by far one of a most interesting book that I’ve read and I strongly recommend it. If there is a Creator what should we do to get to know Him?