News Above the Noise—Week of October 29, 2023
1. Maine Author Stephen King on Yet Another Mass Shooting
This short, compelling letter by Stephen King—the author of numerous books who lives in Maine—is a powerful take on America’s gun problem. To read it, click here.
2. Should Older Americans Work More—and Take Less?
“We older Americans are not only controlling national politics; we are consuming an ever larger share of our economy’s resources through programs like Social Security and Medicare, leaving younger Americans to foot growing bills for their parents’ and grandparents’ retirements. And politicians of both parties are refusing to recognize the consequences.” This is how C. Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and Glenn Kramon, a lecturer at Stanford Business School, begin their recent opinion piece in The New York Times. You can read their call for change here.
3. Physicians Are Dramatically Underdiagnosing Mild Cognitive Impairment
When it comes to treating conditions that impact the brain, early diagnosis is key. However, a new analysis by researchers at the University of Southern California suggests that more than 90 percent of Americans with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remain undiagnosed. What’s worse, 99 percent of the more than 200,000 primary care physicians who see patients 65 and older were underdiagnosing MCI. For more on this disheartening study and what it might mean for you and your loved ones, click here.
4. Can You Pass the Flexibility Test?
You know that being flexible is good for you, helping you do everything from staving off injury and maintaining good balance to squatting a little deeper at the gym and reaching a little higher to get that sweater from the top shelf of your closet. In fact, research even shows a correlation between flexibility and improved sleep, less pain, and a lower risk of depression. Wondering how flexible you are? You can test your flexibility with five simple stretches, all of which you can find here.
Editor's Note: Every week, The Sunday Paper's team of journalists sifts through the news to make sense of what's happening in the world and provide hope for your week to come. We find what Rises Above the Noise and do our best to highlight what we think matters. If you’d like to read more in-depth, please note that while we do our best to feature articles that are not behind a paywall, some of the news pieces we recommend require their own subscriptions beyond our control.
