At Home: Work Harder, Work Smarter
Exercise is good for physical health. It helps us stay healthy emotionally. And now new research suggests that it may even be good for the brain.
As The Globe and Mail reports, regular exercise may ?help slow the cognitive declines associated with aging?–in other words, keep age-related memory and clarity problems at bay.
The study, from the Montreal Heart Institute, founds that adults were able to improve standard measures of cognition including the . . . ability to think clearly, recall and make quick decisions.? This went hand-in-hand with the usual benefits of exercise, including weight loss, smaller waist size, and increased flexibility and endurance.
Researchers discovered that there were ?dramatic changes in blood flow to the brain? and that ?the improvements in cognition mirrored weight loss.?
?Cognitive decline is largely a blood vessel problem,? study leader Dr. Martin Juneau told reporters, adding that if you make the blood vessels in the brain ?healthier with exercise, you reduce the risk of decline.?
Around the World: Gator Wrangler
What do you do when a 130-pound alligator drags off your puppy? According to one Florida grandfather, there’s only one solution: tackle the gator and wrestle it underwater.
As the Huffington Post reports, 66-year-old Steve Gustafson ??didn’t think twice? about rescuing his dog from [a] 7-foot alligator.?
Gustafson was working in the yard when he heard a yelp from his terrier, who ?had been at the edge of a pond.? The next thing he knew, ?the gator had her in his mouth and was taking her far out.?
He jumped into the pond and directly onto the alligator’s back, sending the three of them underwater while he tried to ?wrestle the dog from the gator’s deadly jaws.?
?My main objective was to get the dog to the surface for air,? Gustafson told reporters, adding that ?If I hesitated I would have lost my best friend.? Fortunately, Gustafson’s quick reaction paid off, and ?both he and [the dog] walked away . . . with no major injuries.?
The alligator was trapped and killed and Gustafson plans to ?keep it for future generations.?
