Can cocoa flavanols prevent disease?
Chocolate lovers may be on to something. A new long-term study is trying to find out if taking daily, dietary supplements of cocoa extract containing cocoa flavanols and theobromine from the cocoa bean, and/or a standard multivitamin reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer.The study is being conducted in a partnership by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the... READ MORE
Startups focus on better aging
Can you imagine a pair of glasses that can brighten and enlarge whatever you happen to be reading or looking at, responding to your voice commands? Or can you imagine a phone app that summons a trained driver in a wheelchair-accessible van to take you to a doctor’s appointment? Or can you visualize the difference it would make to an Alzheimer’s patient if his caregivers had instant... READ MORE
Round-up of summertime theatre options
I think we can safely say that a robust July theater schedule has solidified into a Washington tradition. Sort of a solstice festival. This time of year used to be characterized by mostly empty stages — with lovers of the art waiting for “the season” to get underway in the fall. But now, though some theater companies do take a break, those still in action present an interesting... READ MORE
Exhibit displays 50 years of memorabilia
What do a vinyl recording of Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty,” a five-foot model for a towering fiberglass and gold leaf tree, and a photo showing then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey with heiress-businesswoman-philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post and real estate developer Jim Rouse have in common?That’s right: They are among artifacts related to the... READ MORE
Why target-date funds are so popular
When it comes to building their retirement nest egg, investors are increasingly betting on the set-it-and-forget-it approach of target-date funds.Such funds, which are designed to minimize risk over time by gradually shifting from stocks to bonds as an investor’s retirement date nears, hit a record $880 billion in assets last year, according to Morningstar Research... READ MORE
Women face as many heart risks as men do
In the U.S., 1 in 4 women will die from heart disease — almost half a million deaths each year. Yet the perception that heart disease is primarily a man’s disease persists.An American Heart Association survey found that fewer than half of American women are aware that heart disease is their leading killer. The reality is quite different — coronary heart... READ MORE
New, happier returns for online purchases
As online shopping surges, so do the returns — and the hassles for shoppers trying to get rid of items that aren’t right. A few startups dedicated to online returns, as well as changes at some big stores, may make it easier.With the contest for shoppers’ loyalty intense, retailers need to keep them happy — and returns can be a key part of that. Online purchases get... READ MORE
Russian Revolution memoirs
While Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly playing down the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Ellicott City resident Vladimir Marinich is marking the occasion with the publication of his grandparents’ memoirs of that historic event. Marinich, who is 80 and a retired Howard Community College history professor, has spent the last 10 years translating the... READ MORE
Creating an intergenerational household
Barbara Williams’s home is a lively one. Much of the year, there are four generations under one roof. Williams, age 65, shares her five-bedroom home with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and three young grandsons — and her 91-year-old mother visits for several months at a stretch.While the multigenerational living arrangement may be messy at times, “we had so many reasons ... READ MORE
Baseball fans live on former stadium site
When James Batty sits on the deck at his apartment in northeast Baltimore, he sometimes reflects on the times when an empty baseball field across the street once housed a massive edifice known as Memorial Stadium.“I actually worked there two different times — first from 1957 to ‘59. Then, I came back in the mid-1960s,” he said.Now 76, Batty first worked as a vendor... READ MORE
