The Age-Well Project

THE CURIOUS POWER OF JOURNALLING

Do you keep a journal? Many of us do. Indeed, I do. Over the last couple of months I’ve become obsessed with reading the published diaries of writers and artists. These have included the diaries of English writer Sylvia Townsend Warner, the collected diaries of Australian writer Helen Garner, the war diaries of Simone de...

Should we worry about ‘digital dementia’?

The first time I came across the term ‘digital dementia’, it gave me pause. I spend a lot of time coaching people to reduce their risk of dementia, working to reduce my own risk, talking and writing about the topic. It takes up a lot of space in my brain! But am I causing long-term...

WHY WALK IN WINTER?

I’ve just spent a month working in the Swiss Alps (yes, I know, lucky me!). As my accommodation was at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains, and as I had no car and there was no bus service on the valley floor, I spent a lot of time climbing a lot of mountains....

Shorter days, diets and dementia

It’s very autumnal in London right now, and the clocks ‘fall’ back this weekend. (It happens here a week earlier than in the USA and Canada – so don’t panic if you’re on the ‘other’ side of the Atlantic). While some, like my young adult daughters, welcome the extra hour in bed on Sunday, this...

YOGURT, YOGURT AND MORE YOGURT

Back in March, shortly after she died at the age of 117, we reported on the longest living woman, Maria Branyas. So I was intrigued to read a full study of her genes, microbiome and other relevant ‘body-parts’ published at the end of September – this examination resulted in a comprehensive analysis of her biological...