ThirdAge

By Jana Klauer, M.D.

By Robin Westen

After a massage, who doesn’t float off the table feeling all is right with the world? Stretched and oiled with muscles relaxed and mind calm, it’s the perfect treat for our bodies. Or is it? In general, massage is safe and its side effects are rare. But when you have certain conditions a massage can put your health at risk.

A new prostate-cancer drug relies on some surprising components – gold and tea leaves, according to a study.

Researchers at the University of Missouri say that the drug gives much more targeted treatment than chemotherapy. “In our study, we found that a special compound in tea was attracted to tumor cells in the prostate,” Kattesh Katti, curators’ professor of radiology and physics in the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science, said in a statement.

You know by now what BTW means, but how about SWL? That's the abbreviation for "Satisfaction With Life," according to psychology researchers at the University of Utah and Columbia University in New York City. The team published a paper in the Journal of Happiness called "What Mediates the Links Between Age and Well-Being?" based on a study of men and women ages 30 to 70. (ThirdAge aside: We love the fact that there actually is an academic publication called the Journal of Happiness!

If you've started to tune out the often-repeated advice about "lifestyle changes" that can lengthen not only your lifespan but your healthspan, here's a study that could be a much-needed wake-up call for you: German researchers have shown that preventing strokes and dementia – the major reasons for the need for long-term care as we age – really is possible with those good old measures you already know so well: Be more physically active, eat healthier foods, quit smoking, and control high blood pressure and cholesterol.

If you're like a lot people in the "Boomers and Beyond" cohort, you've become an entrepreneur after retiring or getting laid off from your job. Here's good news from none other than the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service: Not only can you deduct your Medicare premiums, but you can also do so retroactively. In a memorandum with the subject line "Deductibility of Medicare Premiums Under Code Section 162(l)," the Chief reversed an earlier decision on this issue.

Here's the actual text of his conclusions:

For the second time in less than a year, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a weight-loss drug, Qsymia. The drug was originally known as Qnexa.

In late June, the anti-obesity drug Lorcaserin (Belviq) was approved; it was the first time in 13 years that the agency had given the OK to that kind of drug.

Scientists, researchers and quick-fix lovers have long been on the hunt for a fountain of youth. But there's no magic pill required to create a vibrant present and an active retirement, according to "Master Class: Living Longer, Stronger, And Happier," a new book by Peter Spiers, the senior vice president of educational travel nonprofit Road Scholar.

Read the whole story at HuffPost 50.

Atlanta's City Council has approved a ban on smoking in the city's parks.

With Monday's vote, Atlanta moved closer to joining a number of its neighbors that have curbed smoking or tobacco use in parks or public places. Alpharetta, Decatur, Doraville, Douglasville, Duluth, Gainesville, Marietta and Roswell have banned smoking in public parks. Clayton, Douglas, Forsyth and Henry counties have also adopted smoking bans.

Aveo Oncology announced in late May that the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center would lead clinical tests of its promising new cancer drug.

What the Boston-based company's news release did not say is that M.D. Anderson's president, Dr. Ronald DePinho, is one of its co-founders and owns nearly $8 million worth of its stock. His wife, Dr. Lynda Chin, is one of its scientific advisers.