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C F ORTHOPEDICS “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” — Phyllis Diller
Photos: Michele Constantini/GettyImages.
“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.”
ine and chopstickinduced smilers had lower heart rates and faster cardiovascular stress recovery than the non-smiling con— Andy Rooney trols. What can we take away from these study results? “Fake it till you make it” appears true when it comes to smiling. Dr. Vanessa Reda is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Stamford. She has conducted “smile therapy” sessions in which participants use smiling as the modality to improve mood. “I have people smile for a minute and a half, [and] then reflect on their experience,” Reda says. “People overwhelmingly report a more positive mood through the experience. There’s a tremendous body/mind connection, making smiling an excellent coping and self-soothing technique.” Being unable to frown — a variation on the smiling research — also affects mood. Researchers at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is compromised by cosmetic Botox injections are happier, on average, than people who have the physical ability to frown. The researchers administered a questionnaire about anxiety and emotional state of mind to 25 women. Half were able to frown while completing the survey; half had received frown-inhibiting Botox injections. The surprising results? Botox recipients reported feeling happier and less anxious in general, which scientists speculate could be connected with their inhibited ability to scowl. So, the next time you are feeling stressed, have a difficult task, or just wake up on the wrong side of the bed, smile for a while “The world and see how your mood can always looks change for the better. Geraldine Mills of Bethel brighter knows this works firsthand. behind a “I was born smiling and I’ve been smiling all my life,” Mills smile.” says. “When you smile, it lifts — Mark Twain your heart up.” HL
No Bones About It!
LIGHT UP YOUR LIFE
Ronald A. Ripps, M.D.
D
elighted by the broad response we got from our grab bars ar ticle, I am compelled to publicize the most impor tant safety feature one can install in the home: light. In 2003, falls in people over 65 accounted for 12,900 deaths, 1.8 million emergency room visits, and 421,000 hospitalizations (the Centers for Disease Control). Elderly folks, especially those with failing vision (1 out of ever y 28 Americans over the age of 40), can become easily disoriented in the dark, which is when most of these falls occur. Night lights either come incandescent or LED. LEDs have a number of advantages over the older incandescents: they use 10% as much energy, they are brighter, they last 25 times longer, and, most impor tantly, they are cool to touch and won’t burn little fingers. (US Consumer Product Safety Commission repor ts about 10 cases a year
No Bones About It! An informative orthopedic publication provided by the physicians of
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of fires possibly having been star ted by incandescent night lights). Night lights should be installed in the bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways, and the kitchen. In stairwells the night light benefit can be enhanced by putting a reflective strip on the edge of the steps. Illuminated toggle switches on the walls help night walkers find the light switch, and some night lights come with a batter y so they continue to work through power outages. Most night lights today come with a photo sensor, but they also make some with motion sensors that turn the lights on and off automatically. The night light should only be so bright that one can discern the general layout of the room - to identify obstacles or stairs - and not to interfere with sleep. And just enough to allay childrens’ fears about all those “things that go bump in the night.”
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