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Cross-sectional age-skill profiles suggest that cognitive skills start declining by age 30 if not earlier. If accurate, such age-driven skill losses pose a major threat to the human capital of societies with rapidly aging populations. We estimate actual age-skill profiles from individual changes in literacy and numeracy skills at different ages. We use the unique German longitudinal component of the Programme of the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC-L) that retested a large representative sample of adults after 3.5 years. Our empirical approach separates age from cohort effects and corrects for measurement error from reversion to the mean. Two main results emerge. First, average skills increase strongly into the forties before decreasing slightly in literacy and more strongly in numeracy. Second, skills decline at older ages only for those with below-average skill usage. White-collar and higher-educated workers with above-average usage show increasing skills even beyond their forties. Women have larger skill losses at older age, particularly in numeracy.

When we have fever all we want to do is lie in bed and drink fluids, which is exactly what we should be doing instead of going to work or school and infecting others. Fever is a sign that we should isolate ourselves from the herd.

Among North American adults, 40 percent of us maintain normal glucose levels only by secreting larger than normal quantities of insulin from our pancreas. So we wander in and out of our family doctors’ offices and, if some blood work is done, we are reassured that our glucose levels are normal, that we don’t have diabetes. Mostly, they are and mostly, we don’t. But our bodies are not normal. The Afghans’ bodies are normal. We are so commonly ill we take it to be normal.

health and fitness book.

A large part of human milk cannot be digested by babies and seems to
have a purpose quite different from infant nutrition — that of
influencing the composition of the bacteria in the infant’s gut.

it’s not just what you eat that affects the brain. It’s also how much. Research has shown that laboratory animals fed calorie-restricted diets—anywhere from 25 to 50 percent less than normal—live longer than other animals do. And it turns out they also have improved brain function, performing better on tests of memory and coordination. Rodents on calorie-restricted diets are also better able to resist the damage that accompanies Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease.

Why Europeans are getting taller and taller—and Americans aren’t.

NutritionData (ND) provides a complete nutrient analysis for any food or recipe, and helps you select foods that best match your dietary needs.

use Phages instead of anti-biotics...

New pills are reinvigorating an old debate—how much sleep do we really need?

article from forbes.com

article on shangri-la method of weight loss

Most experts believe that neck pain starts with bad postures. So what can be a better way than tackling the problem at its origin

thai recipes

Thats a sound advice :)

A Short Guide to a Long Life.... excerpts from the book "fantastic voyage". strongly recommends pure vegetarian food habits. has useful charts and tables

keeping a healthy brain. stimulate your brain