354: strengthening hearts... and minds

Woah... I think I may have voluntarily taken on one of the most difficult tasks on the web! Finding good news today was, well, something of a struggle. (No prizes for guessing which story dominated the headlines on the newswires today.) But this story - once again from the BBC - caught my eye and suggested some hope. According to today's linked article, new research shows that statins may not only help lower your cholesterol, they may also slow the aging of your arteries. In other words, they keep your arteries fitter for longer. They do this, apparently, by increasing the body's levels of a protein that repairs DNA. All of this suggests that statins could be of value to many more patients, not just those suffering high cholesterol. Though given today's financial system fall out, heart medicines will be in enough demand...

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I was given another blog 'bailout' today by RTBH reader Charlotte - many thanks, Charlotte! - who alerted me to this article from a local website in Winchester, England. The city will launch a new Centre of Real-World Learning on Wednesday, to focus on helping people develop the skills they need to survive in the workplace, using lots of different learning techniques. They will draw on scientific data suggesting that much of the capacity to learn comes from one's attitude. I liked this quote from the article: ' “At the heart of our work is the realisation that practical intelligence is, contrary to much received wisdom, learnable,” said Professor Lucas. “Human beings have capacities which can be expanded. And our mind-sets – what we believe in our own minds – really matter. Research has shown that those that believe they can expand their mental powers generally do so and are more successful in life.” ' How's that for encouragement?