5 Things Men Fear Most About Aging

It starts with sex and goes downhill from there.

By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

Worried about getting old? Who isn't -- except perhaps those who are already unmistakably there. Survey after survey shows the elderly are more content with life, less depressed, and less fearful of death than the young.

"I'm a lot more sanguine and comfortable about aging at 76 than I was at 56," says George Vaillant, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who codirects its Study of Adult Development.

In the meantime, though? Guys in midlife harbor plenty of fears when they peer ahead. (Women have their own, slightly different set of aging fears).

Among men's top fears about getting older:

5 Easy Memory Aids That Can Help Anyone

Whether the problem is cognitive impairment or normal aging, try these assists.

By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

Having problems remembering to take pills, buy grocery items, or make appointments? 

Everyone experiences memory problems sometimes. Memory experts often recommend the following simple aids to people with mild cognitive impairment or early symptoms of dementia. But anybody (including harried caregivers!) who's ever forgotten something important can benefit.

1. A GPS system

Violent dreams can be warning sign

The results suggest the incipient stages of these neurodegenerative disorders might begin decades before a person, or doctor, knows it, according to the researchers, who detail their findings online July 28 in the journal Neurology.

The researchers examined Mayo Clinic medical records to identify cases of the so-called REM sleep behavior disorder reported from 2002 to 2006. The researchers identified 27 patients who developed the REM sleep behavior disorder at least 15 years before showing symptoms of neurodegenerative ailments.

Of these patients, 13 developed what was likely dementia and mild cognitive impairment, 12 developed Parkinson's disease, one person Parkinson's-dementia, and one person multiple system atrophy (a disorder that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson's). The dementia category included dementia with Lewy bodies, which is the most common form of progressive dementia, defined partly by recurrent visual hallucinations.

Results showed the time between the start of the sleep disorder and the symptoms of the neurologic disorders ranged up to 50 years.

Scientists have estimated the REM sleep disorder has an estimated prevalence in adults of 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent and predominantly affects older adults. The main symptom of REM sleep behavior disorder is dream-enacting behavior, which can end in the person injuring themselves or a bed mate. When the person awakes, he or she might vividly recall the dream corresponding to the kicking or thrashing around. Past research has suggested a link between the dream-enacting behaviors and certain neurodegenerative ailments.

"A long-duration preclinical phase has important implications for epidemiologic studies and future interventions designed to slow or halt the neurodegenerative process," the researchers conclude.

http://www.livescience.com/8412-violent-dreams-presage-brain-disorders-decades.html