Zoomer Report

The millions of middle-aged and older adults who suffer from insomnia have a new drug-free prescription for a more restful night's sleep

We all know that breaking up is hard to do. But now researchers have shown that heartbreak produces many of the same physical symptoms as cocaine withdrawal.

They scanned the brains of people who had recently been dumped and found the areas of the brain that were activated were the same as in those who were withdrawing from cocaine.

The participants' brains were scanned as they looked at images of their lost loves. Then each was shown a "neutral" image of a casual acquaintance for comparison purposes.

Researchers found that looking at photos of former partners stimulated several key areas of participants' brains much more than viewing the other pictures.

The author of the study, which is published in the Journal of Neurophysiology says romantic love can offer the same high as cocaine, and create similar feelings of withdrawal when the reward is withdrawn. However, the scientists say that while romantic love and cocaine can both be addictive, it's natural to get addicted to love.

And while breaking an addiction to a romantic love is hard, it can be done. Interestingly the researchers suggest the lovelorn take a lesson from recovering addicts.

They suggest talking about it, whether in support groups or conversations with people who are supportive, sympathetic and understanding.

We all know that breaking up is hard to do. But now researchers have shown that heartbreak produces many of the same physical symptoms as cocaine withdrawal.

New research from Denmark shows that boy toys can be bad for your health.

Researchers have long thought that younger spouses were better for both men and women. But new data gleaned from 2 million couples destroy that theory.

Younger wives are better for men’s health, but younger husbands can be deadly for women.

The numbers show that women who marry men seven to nine years younger increase their mortality risk by 20 per cent. In contrast, men who marry younger women decrease theirs by 11 per cent.

Researchers are at a loss to explain this. They say one possibility is that couples with younger husbands violate social norms and thus suffer from social sanctions. It’s also possible that a younger husband may not enrich a woman’s social life or provide companionship and support late in life. A younger wife, however, appears to do all of those things for her older husband.

But it may not be so good for those young wives. The study, published in the journal Demography says marrying a much older man shortens a woman’s life somewhat.

Apparently, the best choice is to marry a man of exactly the same age. But don’t worry too much. The researchers want to remind us marriage overall still raises life expectancy for women and men compared with people who don’t marry.

LADIES, if you’ve ever though that having a younger husband would give you a boost, think again

Clemson University food researchers re-visited the long debated issue in National Geographic.

Though previous research has shown we may have up to a minute to rescue certain types of spilled food before it becomes contaminated, this work makes a strong case for the “zero-second rule.”

The study found that salmonella and other bacteria can live up to four weeks on dry surfaces and be immediately transferred to food.

The zero-tolerance standard, however, conflicts with the findings by other researchers, who found, for instance, that it takes a minute for apple slices to pick up bacteria from a college dining room floor.

Still, most researchers agree that the critical thing is not time, but location.

Some say it’s okay to brush off the bagel that fell from the stroller onto the sidewalk and give it to your screaming child, for example, because the pavement is cleaner than the kitchen floor in terms of the types of germs that cause illnesses. They argue the kitchen floor, however, is probably a zero-second zone because the bacteria from uncooked meat and chicken juices are more hazardous than the ‘soil’ bacteria outside.

The bathroom floor is another zero-second zone because it’s a great potential source of bacteria and shorter-lived viruses that can cause gastrointestinal illness if ingested

You know the famous “five-second rule” —Well scientists are now saying it’s a bunch of baloney to think we can eat dropped food as long as it’s quickly scooped off the floor.

Research shows it's how we fight—where, when, what tone of voice and words we use, whether we hear each other out fairly—that's critical. If we argue poorly, we may end up headed for divorce court. If we argue well, experts say, we actually may improve our relationship.

For 30 years, Dr. Howard Markman, of the University of Denver’s Center for Marital and Family Studies has conducted research that looks at how couples deal with conflict.

He’s has developed a method, for helping couples settle disputes, called the "speaker-listener technique." You can find the details in a book called: "Fighting for Your Marriage."

In a nutshell, he says that couples who have a disagreement should call a "couple's meeting" to discuss the issue without looking for a solution—and set a time limit of 15 minutes. They can flip a coin to see who speaks first.

The person who wins the toss, let's say it's the wife, should explain her position in two to three statements. Her husband should listen, then repeat what he heard, to show that he understood. The wife should then speak again, further explaining her position. And, again, the husband should listen and repeat her points.

They then reverse roles and repeat those same steps. Markman says a lot of times, all you need is to be listened to and that by the end of this exercise, you’ll probably have the answer to your problem.

We all fight with our sweethearts.

A study in the Journal Neurology finds that people who struggle with prolonged bouts of depression may face nearly twice the normal risk of developing dementia.

The 17-year study of depression and dementia examined 950 people as part of the Framingham Heart Study. 13 percent were assessed as being depressed when the study began. Their average age was 79 and all were free of dementia. 164 developed dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Here’s the thing: Nearly a quarter of them were from the group originally classified as depressed, making them more than 1.5 times likely to develop dementia than those had not been not depressed.

Researchers also found that the incidence of dementia also rose according to the severity of the depression. While a growing body of research has pointed to a link between depression and dementia, studies so far have been confusing on one key point: Is depression a symptom or a cause of dementia and Alzheimers disease?

These researchers say their study supports that it’s a risk factor.