Forgetfulness

24 Handy Ways to a Better Memory

Do you have a hard time remembering names, phone numbers, and important dates? Are you constantly losing your car in parking lots? When you leave for vacation, do you have to turn around 20 miles down the road to make sure you shut off all the appliances? Do you sometimes forget how to spell common words? If you can answer yes to most of these questions, here's some very good news: Forgetfulness is curable!

Er, let's see, where were we? Ah, yes. We checked with a few professional memory experts, and a few whose professions require excellent memories. We even checked with a 13-year-old national spelling bee champion. They told us their secrets for building an iron-clad memory.

 

"With a few simple devices, it's within most people's power to have a super memory," says memory expert Michael Pressley, Ph.D., professor of human development at the University of Maryland.

 

What kinds of devices? Glad you asked.

MEDICAL ALERT Keep These Symptoms in Mind   Most skin lumps are not cancer, and most slips of memory are not Alzheimer's disease. "But people tend to be hard on themselves, particularly so as they get older," says Stanley Berent, Ph.D.   When is your forgetfulness so serious that you should see a professional about it? Dr. Berent suggests the following guidelines: Do you lose contact with reality? It's one thing to forget today's date, another to forget the year. If you lose track of where you are, can't remember if it's evening or morning, or have forgotten the name of your spouse (as opposed to someone you just met), a doctor should be consulted. Are you uncomfortable with yourself? If you're feeling anxious about your recent memory lapses, don't sweat it out—seek a doctor's advice. Are you performing your day-to-day roles efficiently? If forgetfulness is affecting your work, your role as a parent or grandparent, or any of your other life activities, you may need help. Above all, says Dr. Berent, know that your memory doesn't have to be perfect to be okay. Some forgetfulness is just part of life.

 

 

Think of remembering as re-membering. Say you're appearing on a television game show and you're on the verge of winning an all-expense-paid trip around the world. All you need to do is remember the name of the battle in which Napoleon was defeated. You know the answer. It's on the tip of your tongue. How to get it off?

 

"Try to reinstate as much as possible of what you know surrounding the issue," says Robin West, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. Thus, Napoleon may lead to Josephine, to France, to the Napoleonic Code, to battles, and (eventually) to Waterloo. "The more connections you make, the better your chances of finding the right pathway," says Dr. West.

 

Are There Any Pills for Forgetfulness? Scientists have long looked for relationships between nutrients and your brain's ability to learn and remember. They know that a lack of certain nutrients can lead to memory and other cognitive failures, but whether supplemental nutrients can lead to supplemental memory is still a mystery.   Research over the past several years has focused on the following nutrients, all of which seem related to memory: vitamins B1 (thiamine), B6, B12, and C, choline, folate, niacin, calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, zinc, and—above all—lecithin.   Some research from the Institute of Physiology in Sofia, Bulgaria, raises questions and hopes about a new, exotic nutrient. Scientists there, experimenting with mice and ginseng, have determined that something in the root of the Chinese plant improves both learning and memory. At least with mice. So it appears that the day may come when forgetfulness can be cured by popping a pill every morning. Of course, some of us will inevitably forget to take our pills.

 

 

Take a picture. The average American, in the course of a lifetime, spends a full year looking for misplaced objects. Want to save yourself a year of your life? You can. Take a good look at those keys as you place them on the table. "Raise your hands to your eyes, miming a camera, and click the button," suggests Joan Minninger, Ph.D., in her book Total Recall: How to Boost Your Memory Power.

 

Talk to yourself. Go ahead, don't be shy. Give yourself an aural as well as a visual image to remember. If you leave your car at the end of the parking lot, under the huge oak tree, go ahead and say, "I'm leaving my car at the far end of the parking lot, under the huge oak tree." Say it out loud. "It's another way to reinforce the memory," says Irene B. Colsky, Ed.D., a memory expert and adjunct professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami.

 

Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree. Afraid you'll remember your car is under an oak tree, but you'll forget which oak tree? Use physical reminders—they are "very efficient ways to remember," says Forrest R. Scogin, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Alabama. The "yellow ribbon" on the oak tree could just as well be a rubber band around your wrist (to remind yourself to buy tissues), a wristwatch on the "wrong" arm (to remind yourself of Aunt Bertha's birthday)—or just about anything you can think of.

 

Make lists. Wherever and whenever possible, jot down on paper what you need to remember. "Our short-term memory has limited capacities—there's only so much space available," says Dr. Scogin. By making lists, you not only are assured of remembering what you wrote down, but it frees your mind for more important things.

 

Categorize. When pencil and paper are unavailable, you'll have to list things in your head—but don't do so randomly, says Dr. Scogin. If you're on your way to the grocery store and you know you need 20 items, you'll probably never remember all 20 unless they are logically grouped. Think: five vegetables, four paper goods, three fruits, etc.

 

Chunk. "Chunking" is like categorizing, but you do it with numbers. If, for instance, you had to remember the numbers 2, 0, 2, 4, 5, 6, 1, 4, 1, 4, you'd probably have a rough time of it. Remember                      (202) 456-1414        (the phone number of the White House) is quite a bit easier. Phone numbers come naturally chunked, as do social security numbers (001-00-1000). You are free, of course, to "chunk" not only these but any numbers you like.

 

Make up a silly story. If you've got several items to remember and you're afraid you never will—no problem. Just make up a tale involving your items, says Dr. Pressley. Say you're on your way to the market and you need pork chops, apricots, milk, and bread. Tell yourself a story in which a pig is drinking milk, in a wheat field, under the shade of an apricot tree.

 

To remember names, think of faces. Perhaps the most difficult memory task we're faced with is remembering the names of people we've just met, says Dr. Scogin. The trick is to etch in your mind a permanent association between the name and the face. Better yet, find a prominent feature on the face and focus in on that. If Budd Luzinski, that new guy in the office, happens to have a long nose—visualize a tiny man skiing down that long nose. Imagine that little man losing (Luzinski) those skis.

 

How to Avoid Stage Fright For most of us, keeping a dozen or so phone numbers, an occasional shopping list, and the starting times of our favorite television shows under our cap is about all we demand of our short-term memory. But what do you do when you have to remember a sales pitch, a speech, or the lines of a play? Or how to spell at a moment's notice any word in the English language? Professional Shakespearean actor Edward Gero and 13-year-old national spelling bee champion Rageshree Ramachandran of Sacramento, California, have a few tips for remembering words and their spellings. From Edward Gero: "Before I memorize my lines, they have to make sense to me. I will read Shakespeare's lines to myself, putting them into my own words." "I look for rhythm patterns. 'To be, or not to be'Édum de, dum dum de dum." "I look for any alphabetical keys. For instance, in MacBeth, I had to say the following line: 'But, I have none; the king-becoming graces, as justice, verity, temp'rance, stablenessÉ' It helped me to remember the order by knowing that the first two, justice and verity, are in alphabetical order, and that the second two, temp'rance and stableness, are in reverse alphabetical order." "I try to associate lines with movements, so that in The Merchant of Venice, I say, 'and let my liver rather heat with wine' as I'm reaching for a glass of wine." From Rageshree Ramachandran: "A lot of spellers just try to memorize a list of words for spelling bees—that doesn't work. It's not just memorizing, it's learning the words. I make a new word part of my everyday vocabulary." "Spelling is mostly logic. If a word is unfamiliar, I'll look for a part of it that I can understand. I can spell elegiacal, for instance, because I know it comes from elegy. (Elegiacal means expressing sorrow.) I can spell mhometer because I know that mho is the reciprocal of ohm, and a mhometer measures ohms (a measure of electricity)." "A lot of memory is visual. It helps me to remember a new word if I write it down several times." "There are often little tricks to help spell a word. Take curliewurly (a little squiggly shape). I had to remember that it was curliewurly, and not curlywurlie. The solution was simple: ie comes before y in the word—just like in the alphabet."

 

 

Make name associations. It's always easier to remember names if you have something to associate the name with. If you have to remember the name of someone who has no big nose or mole on the cheek, make up a little story. Picture someone named Bruce Taylor sitting in front of you with a pair of scissors, a measuring tape, and a piece of chalk. Someone named Feinstein, you might picture sitting before you holding a huge stein full of beer. Someone named Pressley? Imagine him reading the Pittsburgh Press or shaking hands with Elvis, says Dr. Pressley.

 

Look for "markers." Things that happened to you long ago did not happen in isolation from other events, says Dr. Pressley. Say, for instance, you forgot when it was that you worked at the ABC Construction Company. Think of any markers or cues that might help your focus. You may recall that you were dating so-and-so at the time, and that so-and-so and you would often go to the movies, and that one movie you saw together was Jaws. You may then recall (or your local librarian can help you find out) that Jaws appeared in the theaters in 1975.

 

Outline your thoughts. Many college students become intimately involved with a pink, yellow, or green highlighting marker. But you don't need a highlighter to outline your thoughts. You can do it mentally. "Select what is important and what is not," says Dr. Pressley. You're far less likely to forget what you read, he says.

 

Read, read, and read. If your problem is forgetting words, it's probably because you don't use them enough, says Frederic Siegenthaler. As a senior interpreter at the United Nations, he must store an enormous vocabulary in his memory and keep it ready to pull out at any moment. In English alone (and Siegenthaler is also fluent in French, German, Russian, and Spanish), there are as many as 200,000 words available, although we typically use fewer than 5,000 on a daily basis. So if you can't seem to find the right word, your vocabulary is likely to be a bit rusty.

 

Solution? "Do as much reading as you can," says Siegenthaler. "I recommend good fiction, particularly classics of the English language, such as those of Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, or Somerset Maugham.

 

Test yourself. "People generally aren't very good at knowing how good they are at remembering," says Dr. Pressley. "It's very common that someone may think he remembers something, but he doesn't." You've probably experienced this in the middle of an exam. The way to make sure it doesn't happen again is to give yourself a quiz before the exam, says Dr. Pressley. "A practice test will let you know if you have it down or not."

 

Keep calm. Stress and anxiety can clearly disrupt memory performance, says Dr. Pressley. "You need your consciousness to encode things. Anxiety eats that up."

If you're a forgetful person, it may be that your mind could use a vacation. Patricia Sze of Berlitz International Language School in New York City claims that her school's success in teaching students foreign languages lies largely in the nonthreatening environment of soothing colors, no grades, and no testing.

 

Check your medicine cabinet and liquor cabinet. Dozens of things have the potential to contribute to forgetfulness, says Stanley Berent, Ph.D., director of the Neuropsychology Program and an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School. At the root of your forgetfulness may be the booze you're drinking or certain drugs you're taking, such as diet pills, blood pressure medication, or antihistamines.

 

Aspartame harms young brains

Learning and memory may be affected if young people have diet drinks containing the artificial sweetener aspartame, according to a US paediatrician who is presenting evidence today by telelink to the Health Committee at 10am. Mothers are also concerned about New Zealand schools which are now stocking artificially sweetened drinks instead of sugar soft drinks.

The Committee is hearing submissions on aspartame as a result of a petition which calls for the removal of all products containing aspartame and other artificial sweeteners from schools, as well as warning labels on products to alert pregnant women and mothers of young children.

"We are presenting this submission on behalf of over 8,000 people from throughout New Zealand, and especially for all those who have become aware that their symptoms of ill health are due to consuming products with aspartame," stated Alison White, Co-convenor of the Safe Food Campaign.

"The artificial sweetener is the most controversial and complained about additive in history. You only have to google it to see that. It is significant that non-industry funded studies have found various adverse health effects from aspartame, whereas industry-funded studies do not find problems. We cannot underestimate the power and sophistication of industry to maintain and expand its profit and market share, regardless of the health consequences of exposure to this substance."

"The manifestations of aspartame disease in young children are myriad," reported Dr Kenneth Stoller, MD. "These may range from severe headaches, unexplained visual loss, to depression, antisocial behaviour and seizures. Aspartame is not just a food additive. The components in it are isolated in a way that does not occur in nature. It is a neurotoxic drug, causing the deterioration of brain cells."

Mother of a school student, Mary Byrne, is concerned that the Hutt Valley school her daughter attends now stocks artificially sweetened drinks. "I think it's a good thing they're getting rid of sugar soft drinks from schools, but I don't think it's good they're replacing them with artificially sweetened drinks," said Ms Byrne. "I'm pleased that a teacher at the school my daughter is attending is going to show a video on aspartame to students. This gives students more information about the dangers of aspartame, so they are motivated to avoid it."

Aspartame is being used in an increasing number of products, an estimated 6000 products worldwide, not just those labelled 'diet' and 'sugar free' but also in chewing gum, sports drinks, dietary supplements and medications. Sometimes the only warning is 'contains phenylalanine'. An estimated one in 15 people consume aspartame around the world.

"We are alarmed that exposure of young people in New Zealand to aspartame is probably increasing," said Ms White. "Young children especially are at risk of developing an allergy to formaldehyde from aspartame products. Parents and doctors need to be alerted to the problem." The submission presented to the Health Committee includes the stories of three people who have become aware that their health problems were caused by aspartame.

The petition requests specifically:

1. Warning labels on all products containing aspartame to increase awareness of symptoms associated with aspartame toxicity, particularly to alert pregnant women and mothers of small children.

2. A public education programme to raise awareness about adverse reactions to aspartame.

3. A programme to raise awareness within the medical profession of the symptoms associated with aspartame toxicity, to prevent incorrect diagnosis of conditions that may be related to aspartame toxicity.

4. Removal of all products containing aspartame and other artificial sweeteners from schools to reduce toxic effects on young people, thus reducing any behavioural and psychological problems that may result from these effects.

 

A MORNING PRAYER

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so tha t I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess w ith my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who will delete this without sharing it w ith others. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly..

This is my prayer.
In God's Name, May God bless you.

 

TODAY PRAYER

Today is the day that the Lord hath made we will
rejoice and be glad in it...I thank you Jesus for your
love to me from day to day...As I look back over the years,
I thank you Jesus for all the answered prayers.
I cannot help but praise my Lord. I want to tell you Jesus
that I love you.....We'll shout it out and rebuke satan
in the name of Jesus. We plead the blood of Jesus upon
those who need a special healing or a special touch
from God in these days...Jesus you know all about your
children you tells us to enter right into the holy of
holies and make our request known unto you.. I pray that
you would wrap and shield each one in your loving arms
and hold them so tight, show them your love and that You
will work all things out for their good and your glory.
Lord many of your children is hurting today for different
reasons but we leave them in your care and we'll believe
for a miracle in Jesus name. I ask that God's protection
would be upon each and everyone in these difficult days.
If we love Him and live our lives according to His commands,
even when life seems so hopeless and dark, God is about
to bring blessing into your life. Thank you Jesus for
what you are about to do.....Amen

Freedom of Simplicity

 

Freedom  of Simplicity
By  Bo Sanchez

Happiness is not found outside  of you. It doesn't come from cars,
clothes,cash, or   Caribbean cruises. Happiness is found  within.
But how can you find it if you  don't have the simplicity of time
and space to  discover the most important things in your life?  

How can you search the depths  of your soul if you are too busy
impressing  others, acquiring wealth, protecting your properties, and  
paying your debts?  

Simplicity is not about the  external either: living in a doghouse,
eating in  Hepatitis joints, wearing rags.

Let me define  what it is: Simplicity is living from the core of your being.  

A TREASURE  MAP OF HAPPINESS

Simplicity will point to you  where and what and who the gold is in your life.
Let me  share with you the seven powerful lessons I've learned on simple living:  

1. LIVE ON  LESS, AND DELIGHT IN THEM MORE
Some take their  pleasure dining in classy restaurants, trips to Europe ,
and owning the  latest home theatre-equipment. I've chosen the simple path:  
If I can simply be with my  wife, or take a quiet stroll under a canopy of stars,  
or play with a child, or read  a good book in my home, or laugh with friends
over a  pizza, I consider myself richly blessed.

Focus  on what you have and not on what you don't have.  

2. STOP  RUNNING AND WALK INSTEAD
Here's the truth:  The person who has covered the greatest distance does  
NOT win, but the one who has  most enjoyed the journey does. Stop
running around  chasing your own tail!

Get off your hurried pace and  learn to breathe. Replace doing with
being. Learn to  say no to invitations, appointments, and commitments,  
activities and events that  will rob you of your focus. Learn to say
"yes"  to rest, to tranquility, to quietness.

3. YOU ARE  MORE THAN YOUR WEALTH
I own very few things today.  Because I am more than the brand of my
watch,the logo of  my shoes, the name of my car. I believe that if in my soul  
I deeply respect and value  myself, people around me will sense that, and they too,  
will value and respect  me-whether I'm wearing Armani or not.

You  are more than your wealth.

4. AVOID  BUYING ON CREDIT
I don't believe in borrowing  from credit cards. (For convenience, I use one card  
but I pay the whole amount at  the end of each month.) If I need something really bad,  
I save up for it. Sometimes,  at midpoint, I realize I don't really need the darn thing  
and give up the whole idea.  The only exception I feel we should enter into a
credit  is when buying a non-depreciating item, such as housing or land.  
I believe we should always  live within our earning capacity.
Proverbs 22:7  says, "Those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders."  

5. GIVE AS  MUCH AS YOU CAN
If I content myself with 25  shirt instead of  400 Lacoste, I can help others more.  
Trust me, there is immense  pleasure! You will find that the empty thrill of owning a  
diamond ring on your finger   pales in comparison to the joy of handling a
piece  of bread to an orphan child.

"And God is able  to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,  
having all that you need, you  will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8)  

The Old Testament of tithing,  or giving 10% of your income is a good guideline to follow.  
The New Testament challenges  us to give with a cheerful heart. (When you're cheerful,  
you may give more than 10%!)  Make it a habit.

6. SAVE AS  MUCH AS YOU CAN
Saving is essential to being  good stewards of the money that God "lends" to us.
Saving  is an important way of providing for our future-both for our needs and  
to be generous to others. I  recommend that you save at least 10% of your income.  
I can almost hear you now:  "Bo, that's impossible!" Oh yeah? Well, how did you  
live three years back when  your salary was one-half its present amount?"
Sacrifice. Many of our needs  are actually wants. Is cable TV a need? Will you
suddenly die if you can't  watch CNN or HBO? Are those new golf clubs essential  
to your existence? Invest in  time deposits, long-term stocks and housing.  

7. BUDGET,  BUDGET, BUDGET
Make a list of all your  monthly expenses, according to categories. Make also a list  
of irregular expenses-those  that don't come monthly. Set up another savings account  
for these expenses and put in  a little money each month. To differentiate this from  
the savings account, we call  ours "freedom account" because it frees us from worrying  
about them when they suddenly  attack. And stick to your budget!

ONE LAST  WORD BEFORE WE CLOSE
Balance.  
Don't take living simply to  the extremes! Living simply doesn't mean living in deprivation.  
There are special days when my  wife and I eat in a fancy restaurant. Or, when we splurge into a  
vacation. Very rare, yes, but  my point is that you take living simply NOT as a rigid goal-  
but as a happy process towards  the goals of generosity, inner peace and holiness.  

How to End Negative Thinking

End negative thinking and learn to see the light.

Rid your mind of negative thoughts.

 

Instructions

Step1

Become aware of the negative though process. If you are a negative thinker, odds are negative thinking is second nature to you. In order to stop the negative thoughts from taking over you'll have to practice awareness. Try to be aware of everything you're thinking all the time. Tie a reminder string around your finger or stick up post-it notes if you are having a hard time remembering to be aware.

Step2

Once you catch yourself in a negative thought, stop yourself. Take a deep breath and focus on what you are doing. Use your five senses to concentrate on the moment. If you are getting dressed, for example, think about how the material feels, what your shirt smells like, what sounds you hear outside. By the time you are finished getting dressed you will feel calmer and the negative thoughts will have vanished.

Step3

Practice. Don't give up on yourself. This can be a difficult task since it takes up a lot of brainpower. Howver, if you are truly committed to ending your negative thought process this simple exercise will help you stay on the track to positivity.

Step4

Replace the negative thought with a positive one even if you don't believe in it. Eventually it will become truth. If every day when you get dressed you think about how fat you look, replace that with a thought about how good you look after your five senses exercise.

 

The Healing Power of Pets

Studies show that contact with domestic animals can prevent illness.

As she makes her way through the hospital wards, Billie-Jean keeps up an impressive pace. She has to if she is going to see all the patients who are waiting for her. Wearing her official uniform, she looks neat and trim, and despite how busy she is, she always has time to stop if someone wants to say hello or slip her a Bonio. You see, Billie-Jean isn't a ward sister doing the rounds or a doctor bringing vital medicine, she's an Irish terrier. But despite the fact she's a canine, not human, carer, her medical value is second-to-none because she is a Pets As Therapy dog.

Pets As Therapy is a charity that takes pet dogs and cats to hospitals, hospices, residential care homes, day centres and special-needs schools. It was formed in 1983, explains chief executive Maureen Hennis, by a group of pet owners who were convinced that their animals could help other people. "At that time, people were moving into residential accommodation and nursing homes, and they had to give up their own pets," she says. "This wasn't only making them sad and depressed, sometimes it was actually making them ill."

The importance of regular contact with domestic animals has been highlighted by recent research conducted by the University of Minnesota. According to the study, having a cat around the house can cut the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke by almost half. After studying nearly 4,500 adults aged between 30 and 75 for 10 years, it was found that cat owners had a 40 per cent lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.

"For years we have known that psychological stress and anxiety are related to cardiovascular events, particularly heart attacks," says Dr Adnan Qureshi, executive director of the Minnesota Stroke Institute at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. According to Qureshi, the research shows that "essentially there is a benefit in relieving those inciting factors from pets". And in a study published last year, Dr Deborah Wells of Queen's University Belfast found that dog owners tend to suffer less from ill health, have lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure. "It is possible that dogs can directly promote our well-being by buffering us from stress," says Dr Wells.

Today, Billie-Jean, along with her owner, Emma Charlton, is on her weekly visit to the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Putney, south London. The hospital is just one of the thousands of places that PAT animals visit every year. "When we first started, we used to have to look around for establishments for registered PAT dogs to visit. Now we have more than 900 establishments waiting for PAT dogs to visit in," says Hennis. "Currently, we have 3,600 dogs and 92 cats working in the community and they are benefiting more than 100,000 patients every single week in the UK." As Billie-Jean makes her way through the hospital, clad in a bright PAT vest and fresh from the grooming parlour, it's clear that she is a real favourite with the patients.

When Billie-Jean bumps into Scott Robertson in one of the hospital's corridors, his face is wreathed in smiles at the sight of her. Charlton slips him a dog biscuit, which he hands to Billie-Jean as she enthusiastically licks his hands.

Not all of the patients here can articulate their likes and dislikes as clearly, so Charlton always checks with the ward staff who will welcome some time with Billie-Jean. Tina Loughney, Charlton tells me, loves to see her. Loughney usually communicates through facial movements and her expressive hands but today she has a surprise for everyone. Loughney has dogs at home and Emma asks how they are. "All right," she says. Charlton is gobsmacked -- and thrilled. "That's the first time I've heard Tina speak." The staff agree. "It's moments like this that make it worthwhile," says Charlton, who has been visiting the hospital with Billie-Jean for the past two years.

For over an hour, Billie-Jean pads through the hospital, shaking paws with and licking anyone who says hello. She is wonderfully behaved -- she seems to know instinctively when to be gentle and when she can be a little more boisterous. This is no accident -- every PAT animal is assessed to ensure that only the best-behaved pets come into contact with patients. Billie-Jean and her ilk are a hard-working part of the healthcare system. "PAT animals are being used for desensitisation in phobia patients, as part of stroke rehabilitation, helping to get people to use their limbs again and to talk," says Hennis. "Very often people go into a world of their own and they stop communicating with anyone. But if you go in with a dog, it's amazing how a dog can get through barriers that humans can't."

When speaking to a doctor friend about PAT, he waxes lyrical about his experiences of the animals and tells me about a patient on a stroke ward who had not spoken since she arrived in hospital. During an encounter with one of the charity's volunteer canines, she stroked the dog and uttered her first word -- "soft".

Hennis, herself a regular visitor to a number of establishments, tells me about how she realised the importance of what the charity was doing. "There was a lady that I visited who used to sit by the door every Saturday morning, and when she saw my dog she always used to say, 'Here's my ray of sunshine, she's my reason for staying alive'." One thing's for sure -- it's hard to imagine the average GP getting such a warm welcome.

Animal magic: how pets prevent illness

Dog owners tend to have lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, as dogs can reduce the risk of spikes in blood pressure due to stress or tension.

In some cases, the emotional support offered by an animal is greater than that offered by a human. For older people in particular, an animal can fulfil "the need to be needed".

Owning a pet can improve a person's chances of survival after a life-threatening illness, by helping to lower blood pressure. Pets can also help speed up rehabilitation following a stroke.

Children with pets have higher levels of self-esteem and function better emotionally than those without, studies have shown. Some teachers have introduced pets into the classroom and children with learning disabilities and behavioural disorders such as autism, for example, show immediate benefits from animal-assisted therapy.

Children who live with a cat or dog in their first years have a lower incidence of hay fever and asthma and are less likely to develop animal-related allergies, or to suffer a bout of gastroenteritis.

 

Home Remedies You Can Use To Improve Your Memory

If you are having problems remembering things, there are some simple things you can do to improve your memory. The first thing you will want to master is repetition. When you repeat things many times over, it increasing the chances that your brain will store it into your long term memory.

 

 

Repetition is directly connected to your ability to memorize important information. The next thing you will want to use is association.  If you need to remember something that is important, associate it with an image which is very important to you.

 

By making this connection, your brain is much more likely to retain the information. You should also strive to learn at least one new fact each day. It should be something you're interested in. Your brain is much more likely to retain information that interests you. It will discard information that you find to be boring. A large percentage of our brains are composed of fatty substances. Because of this, the foods we consume can have an effect on the function of our brains. Because of this, you will want to make sure you only eat foods which are healthy to your brain. Eating good foods for your brain is just as important as eating the proper foods for the rest of your body.

 

It is also important to exercise your mind. Like your muscles, a brain which is exercised will be mentally fit. If you don't exercise your brain, you will become mentally weak. Antioxidants can enhance your immune system and protect your neurons. This is very important as you age, as memory problems have been connected to the aging process. Blackberries, raspberries, and raisins are excellent for keeping your brain healthy as you get older. These foods are full of antioxidants. Another product you will want to eat on a consistent basis is almonds. Eating about eight almonds a day can  do a lot to improve your memory.

 

Milk and honey have been shown to help improve your memory. While there are many books you can buy which will present a number of techniques you can use to improve your memory, you don't want to forget about the foods you eat. Many people take this for granted. We always hear about the foods which are good to eat for those who want to lose weight and stay in great shape. Unfortunately, you don't hear a lot about the importance of  brain food. What good is being physically fit if you are not mentally fit as well?

 

When you were young, your parents probably told you to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and there is a reason for this. Studies have consistently shown that eating the right foods can help you improve your memory. We live in a society where eating bad foods is the norm for many people. It is unfortunate that more fast food restaurants don't add either fruits or vegetables to their menu. However, it is up to you to take responsibility for the health of both your brain and your body. Nobody has a more vested interest in your health than you. We live in a world of information.

 

On a daily basis, the typical individual can expect to receive a ton of information. Much of this information is worthless, and your brain will discard it. However, there is a lot of information which is presented to you that has to be memorized. Because of this, your brain must know what information should be retained and what should be discarded. Having a knowledge of memory improvement techniques will allow you to store important information in your long term memory while discarding data which is not important. By eating the right foods will make this process easier. There are two primary reasons why people have memory problem.

 

The first reason is a result of them not knowing how to control the information that they receive. The second reason is not caring for their mind and body in a way that makes it easier for them to process information. Once you master these two things, there is little that will be able to stop you from enjoying a long, health life were you continue to learn new things each day.

 

A dummy's guide to cutting commuting costs

Inflation is at its peak. Rising cost of consumer durables, food and fuel have left most of us in a difficult situation. We all are thinking about ways to beat inflation and how to reduce our monthly expenses.

I am sure most of you must have, at some point, made it a point to cut down on your lifestyle expenses. Didn't you?

Also, I am equally sure that most of you must not have succeeded. Did you?

Well, whatever your success ratio the point is that more can be done. Let's first look at managing travel/commuting costs and time.

To begin with let's try to economise on the things which have started costing more and pinching our pockets like never before.

Fuel forms a big chunk of it. With rising crude prices petrol/ diesel prices seems to be pinching everyone the most. With banks offering competitive interest rates in the recent past -- not now as interest rates are also on an upward journey -- owning a vehicle has become very easy and most of you, I am sure, must be owning either a two or a four-wheeler. Consequently, your fuel bills must have skyrocketed and hence the mounting expenses!

If you are looking at cutting fuel expenses you are probably starting out on this exercise quite wisely.

Car pool

A tried-and-tested method and one of the best ways to reduce travel cost when driving to work. Share a car with office colleagues or neighbours or friends heading in the same direction. Car pooling not only helps in reducing travel costs but also decongests traffic and reduces pollution as well your stress levels.

If you have no one with whom you can pool your car or vice versa then check this site out: commuteeasy.com which can help you to find car pools in your area. The only limitation of this site is that it offers its services in limited cities like Bengaluru [Images], Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Public transportation

It is the best and cheapest mode of travelling. Sanket Mehta, 24, a businessman from Mumbai's Fort area, says: "For me to travel from my home in Santa Cruz to Fort in peak hours takes at least an hour and a half. I use the train instead and reach my office in an hour or so; I don't get tired as well. Also, it's much more economical."

Trains and buses can be very crowded especially at peak hours. But they are economical and you don't have the headache of finding a parking space. You will understand this more if you are a resident of one of India's biggest metros where congestion is creating a huge problem. Remember where you can use bus or train; avoid taking a taxi or a rickshaw. Iy you live in a city that has taxis or rickshaws try to share them to reduce the burden of travelling fares.

Plan in advance

You can schedule your day in advance so that you can club appointments or places you have to go to. This way you can plan your route and transportation in advance and not only save time but also fuel. Also, if there is no urgency then select non-peak hours to reach your destination so that way if travelling by car you reach early as well as save on time and fuel. Again try to use public transport and if travelling during non-peak hours then you do not even have to worry about the crowds.

Walk where possible

Avoid taking your car or rickshaw or taxi to short distances where it's possible to walk. Like, going to a grocer's near your house.

Driving tips

Use driving tips to save that extra litre of petrol. You can get driving tips from your car dealer as well as from the service station you visit or even from the Internet.

School drive

For all those with children you should try to use the school bus instead of dropping your kids to school by car, taxi or rickshaw. Or form a car pool to drop kids to their school. With the amount of classes students attend these days parents spend half their time in dropping their kids to classes and picking them up.

Again parents can get together a group of children from their neighbourhood and form a car pool or can hire a bus to drop kids off to their classes and pick them up. This will prove economical both in terms of time and money.

Use teleconferencing

Technology can be a great boon in current times. Business people can use teleconferencing where possible instead of travelling.

Free home delivery

On weekends or even on weekdays instead of going out for dinner or lunch you can order your food at home. Almost all the restaurants have free home delivery service. This way you can save on fuel by not travelling to the restaurant, save on time by avoiding the waiting time at the restaurant (that is to wait first for a place and then for food which can be used for some effective task like reading a newspaper at home or doing some household chore). Also, you will save on time spent in searching for a parking lot, that is, if no valet service is available.

Buy passes

One should make use of monthly, quarterly or annual bus and train passes wherever available. It saves time because you can avoid peak hour queues to buy tickets everyday and arrange for small change. Also, the passes are a much cheaper option than buying tickets everyday if you go for periodic passes.

However, this only applies if you are travelling the same route everyday for work or other purpose. Also, students and senior citizens should try to use the discount available to them.

There are also a bunch of other even more radical innovations to save petrol flying around -- like using bicycles to work. It's not always practical solution especially in India. But creating an awareness sparks new ideas to cut costs.

Do you have an interesting idea on how to cut costs? Would you like to share your idea of cutting costs while travelling, shopping, eating out, buying clothes? Let us know on the message board below!

 

6 facts you should know about your home loan

It really is a tough time for home loan borrowers. Interest rates on home loans -- be they fixed or floating -- are going through the roof, and so is the equated monthly installment, EMI, throwing monthly budgets out of gear.

What should you do in such a situation? Here are a few things that every home loan borrower must remember now that home loan rates are expected to increase further.

1. Is it worth switching from a floating to a fixed rate home loan now?

Switching your current floating home loan to fixed home loan is not advisable as there are not many banks that offer genuine fixed rate loans anyway. Once the interest rate is fixed on genuine fixed rate home loans the banks from which you borrow cannot change the rate of interest. 

Fixed home loans are not available for less than 14 per cent rate of interest today and also, the borrower has to pay a fee for changing from 'floating' to 'fixed' home loan rates which is 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of the outstanding loan amount. This means that the equated monthly installments (EMIs) will go up immediately.

2. Are fixed rate home loans really fixed?

Now ideally as it should be, we assume that once you select fixed rate plan for your home loan the rate of interest will remain unchanged over the entire tenure of the repayment period irrespective of any subsequent increase in the same. But actually this is not the case.

All banks include the reset clause on fixed interest rate in their loan agreement. So if you have taken a loan @ 10.5 per cent for 15 years it does not mean the same rate will be applicable through the tenure of your loan.

Banks have introduced a clause according to which they have the right to revise the fixed rate home loan after two years or five years of disbursing the loan. This clause is called the Force Majeure Clause.

The statement included in the loan agreement will say:

Provided further that from time to time, the bank may in its sole discretion alter the rate of interest suitably and prospectively on account of change in the internal policies of the bank or if unforeseen or extraordinary changes in the money market conditions take place during the period of the agreement.

Don't let yourself to be misled by the term 'fixed rate'. For that reason, it is significantly important to go through the contents of your home loan agreement meticulously. Most of us see the home loan agreement as a mere formality. Well! This can be the biggest pitfall.

It is a contract twisted towards the lenders through different legal clauses presented in fine quality paper. You should not take things for granted. Always ask the lender bank to make you understand the agreement before you sign it. Also, ensure to bring these uneven and twisted clauses to the notice of your housing finance company and suggest the changes you need in co-operation with the lender bank.

3. What about shifting to other lenders offering a lower floating rate?

This can be a good idea especially if another lender is offering a floating rate which is at least 0.5 per cent or 0.75 per cent lower than what has been offered by your existing lender, and, more importantly, with the balance tenure of not less than 7-8 years.

There are banks that charge high rate of interest from existing customers and low rate from new customers. Therefore, shop around the market and get informed regarding the same to avail the best deal.

4. What forces banks to increase EMIs on existing home loans?

The rising interest rates in the country today has brought this debt trap to your household. In the past few years, the floating interest rates on home loans have shot up to 12 per cent from 7.5-8 per cent.

Rate of interest and principal are two basic components involved while calculating EMI payment for any loan. In the first few years of your loan repayment tenure, a major part of the amount goes in paying up the interest. The trend reverses after a few years -- after you have paid much of the interest -- and the principal repayment increases.

Today, when home loan interest rates are high everywhere, banks have to increase tenure up to a certain point. If the interest rate continues to go up, the EMI you pay fails to cover the loan amount.

Moreover, increasing the time period is not seen as a solution to cope up with the rising interest rates. Hence, banks are forced to increase the amount of EMI.

5. What are the options to reduce the EMIs?

If you have extra money, it is recommended that you pay a part of your loan to keep the EMI at the same level. Since most banks do not charge part pre-payment penalty, it can be an excellent option.

In case you find the increase in EMI unfeasible, you should check whether your bank is ready to increase the loan tenure while keeping the EMI at the same level.

However, banks generally do not increase the tenure beyond the retirement age which is 60 years for salaried people and 65 years for self-employed.

6. Is it the right time to buy a home?

Interest rates are likely to go up further, which could affect demand, putting property prices under pressure. However, if you want to buy a house for your own use, this could be a good time.

The value of borrowed amount is depreciating (decreasing in value) because of inflation. If the value of the property you are buying does not depreciate, your investment will give you handsome return. Of course, that is a big IF.