You’re only as old as you feel. Page 4.
The science behind music & pleasure in the brain. Page 7.
How to eat well and waste less . Page 8.
When is it time to upgrade your hearing aids? Page 10.
Small steps towards big change. Page 12.
Staying Eye-Smart Page 14.
As autumn gets into full swing, we’re thinking about ways to stay active and keep our brain young. You can read about how your hearing plays a surprising role in this on page 4.
And speaking of our hearing, have you ever thought about why our brains derive so much pleasure from music? We step into the science on page 7, and ask when is the right time to upgrade our hearing aid on page 10.
With harvest and conscious consumerism at the top of our minds, we spend time with best-selling cookbook author, real food activist and sustainability champion, Melissa Hemsley to learn how we can all eat well, feel good and waste less.
Our vision is one of the most valued of our five senses, and as our health changes over time, we learn more about why it is important to have regular eye examinations.
And as Leightons thinks carefully about putting sustainability at the heart of our business, we take a moment to share the small steps we are taking to make a meaningful difference over time through our Kaizen Initiative on page 12.
Now that the busyness of summer has settled down and the darker evenings are drawing in, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the read!
Ryan Leighton, CEO Leightons Opticians & Hearing Care
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Mark Twain famously said
But when you think about it… what age did you feel on your last birthday?
Each of us has a chronological age, the number we commemorate yearly. But scientists also believe we have a “biological age”. That’s the age our bodies appear to be when a number of age-related biomarkers are taken into account – things like skin elasticity, blood pressure, lung capacity and grip strength. But how do we keep our mind sharp, so we feel as young as we are?
1. Exercise and eat healthily
Small changes in your eating habits can help your overall brain health, like eating plenty of leafy greens and oily fish. Plus, regular exercise keeps you strong, active and supple. It’s great to mix:
• Aerobic exercise (walking or running) for stamina
• Flexibility exercises (yoga or pilates) to keep an upright stance
• Resistance exercises (light weights) to maintain your strength
2. Keep mentally and socially connected
Staying in touch with the people who matter to you (online or in person) boosts your wellbeing. Plus, anything that engages your mind and develops your thinking skills is good for your brain:
• Take a craft class or learn a language
• Play a musical instrument or join a choir
• Do a crossword or play cards in a group
3. Protect your hearing
Studies show that hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline and this has a bigger impact on our physical and social wellbeing too. When we find it tricky to hear, we withdraw from situations where our hearing loss prevents us from taking part. It’s good to:
• Spot signs of hearing loss early (e.g. turning the TV up too loud for others)
• Have your hearing tested regularly
• Act sooner to preserve more
Age is a case of If you don’t mind,
mind over matter.“ ”it doesn’t matter.
Recent studies have shown that our brain has the ability to change over time, according to its needs and the stimulation it is provided with. This is called neuroplasticity. But if our brain stops receiving this stimulation (for example, sounds and speech), it reorganises its pathways to aid our other functions (for example, sight). This results in a cognitive decline in that part of the brain. So, it really is a case of use it –or lose it.
When we are fitted with a hearing aid to treat hearing loss, we can maintain that flow of stimulation to the brain, utilising those neural pathways and limiting cognitive decline. A newly published long-term study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society revealed that using hearing aids limits cognitive decline in individuals with hearing loss. It found that the rate of cognitive decline was greater in those with hearing loss as compared to those with healthy hearing. But the participants with hearing loss who used hearing aids demonstrated no difference in the rate of cognitive decline compared to those with normal hearing.
If we want to keep our brains healthy and active for longer, we should eat well, exercise often and look after our sight and our hearing. Studies have shown that hearing aids prevent cognitive decline, help keep us connected to our family and friends, and keep the sound processing and language areas of our brain healthy and in constant use – which keeps us connected and living life to the full for longer!
Oticon More is the world’s first hearing aid to give the brain the full perspective, embodying Oticon’s BrainHearing™ philosophy. Benefits include:
• A full and precisely balanced sound scene that makes it easier for the brain to perform optimally
• A dedicated music programme – Oticon MyMusic – that immerses you in live or streamed music and is easy to activate using the Oticon ON app on your phone
• A Deep Neural Network that enables the sounds of the world to be handled precisely and automatically
• Improved speech understanding and reduced listening effort
• Connectivity directly to your Apple or Android™ device
It has been said: if you want to exercise your body, visit the gym. However, if you want to exercise your brain, listen to music. But just what is it about music that is so beneficial to our brain?
Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety and blood pressure, while playing music can improve memory, concentration and problem solving. But true pleasure derived from music comes from our brain’s reward system.
When music is played, live or as a recording, vibrations travel through the air and enter our ear canal. These vibrations reach our eardrum and are transmitted into an electrical signal that travels through the auditory nerve to the brain stem, where it is understood by our brain as music.
Neuroscientists Valorie Salimpoor and Robert Zatorre discovered that music which gives us an intense rush of pleasure – also called chills (which Grease fans will love) – results in our brains being flooded with a chemical called dopamine – just 15 minutes after hearing it. It’s the same chemical which floods our brain when we get intense pleasure from food.
Much of the pleasure we get from music comes from the pattern of melody, rhythm and unexpected changes – a constant dance between giving our brain what it is expecting and surprising it with something new.
Of course, everyone is different and music will make us respond according to our own taste. But what Salimpoor and Zatorre also discovered is that certain pieces of classical music trigger the same changes in the brain regardless of our individual tastes and preferences – leading them to understand that some music causes our brains to respond in exactly the same way – giving us a universal experience, which helps to explain why live concerts are so thrilling and produce such intense experiences.
Whether you get your goosebumps – or chills – from Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 5, Elvis’s Jailhouse Rock, or Elbow’s One Day Like This, the more we listen to music we love, the better it is for our brain.
Exposure to certain kinds of noise can permanently damage your hearing. Prevention is possible; however, a complete cure is not. Leightons Hearing Care can provide you with advice and more importantly, a range of specialist hearing protection products.
An estimated 10% of the world’s population have some degree of hearing loss. The terrible truth is that about a third of them sustained damage to their ears unnecessarily, and now many may require hearing assistance in the form of a digital hearing aid.
Most cases of deafness are caused by damage to the tiny hair cells in the inner ear. Damage that’s caused by too much noise or loud music is permanent, but the good news is that you can take simple steps to prevent it.
At Leightons, we can help you find the best way to protect your hearing, so you can carry on living your life to the full. From custom-fit ear plugs suitable for almost any environment where the noise levels are higher than recommended, to ear plugs for sleeping, and even hearing protection for motorcyclists, motorsport, music, aviation, industry and shooting, we stock the lot.
To book in for a hearing protection consultation, visit leightons.co.uk/book to book online or call us on 0800 40 20 20.
How often do you look in your fridge at the end of the week and see a bag of wilting salad that’s headed for the compost heap? Or miss the use-by date on a meal and feel a pang of guilt as you close the bin lid?
Food waste is an issue we’re all trying to get better at managing, so who better to give us their top tips on how to feel good and waste less, than best-selling cookbook author, real food activist and sustainability champion, Melissa Hemsley.
She is passionate about spreading the power of feel-good food – that’s food that not only tastes delicious, but nourishes our bodies and is grown with the seasons, with respect for the people who grow it. More than this, it’s food to be enjoyed, shared and used to its full wholesome, nourishing potential with nothing wasted.
Q: Melissa, what is your inspiration behind Zero Waste, Sustainability and Feeling Good?
A: I wanted to immerse myself in doing good for myself but also for the planet. Like everyone else, we all intend to do good. It’s not just about delicious food but nutritious food to help you feel better. In my latest book “Feel Good”, I hoped to have brought these themes together in one place.
Q: Leightons have been supporting The Trussell Trust for a couple of years, starting with the pandemic. You work with a few food projects and movements to help support communities, can you tell us more about them and how we as individuals can take part?
A: There is a hunger and food waste crisis at the moment. At least 3 million tonnes of edible food waste is generated by the UK food industry each year. I have started working with organisations; Felix Project, UK Harvest and Olio.
The Felix & UK Harvest projects provide much needed assistance to charities and vulnerable people, by collecting surplus food from all types of food providers, delivering it directly to charities across the UK.
The Olio app is a great way to help individually. I use the app weekly. I might have bought 2 bags of salad for the price of one or my plans have changed. I make a habit of uploading my surplus food on a weekly basis. To access items, users simply browse the listings available near them, request whatever takes your fancy and arrange a pick-up via private messaging. It’s a great community movement.
Q: In your new book, “Feel Good”, you emphasise the importance of minimising waste and cooking seasonally. Can you share a few tips to help us get started if we aren’t doing this already?
A: I always recommend to friends and family to do a non-judgment audit of their compost and food bins. This allows us to consciously see what we could potentially reuse in another dish and maybe to motivate us to change habits. A suggestion, if you bought a packet of apples and they start to over ripen, I would suggest to cut them up and either freeze them for your next smoothie, or add to your next salad to add sweetness. Same with preparations of meals, I would suggest keeping the peels or leftovers for freezing or to add to your next stock, soup or gravy. Something I always love making is a frittata.
Another great tip is to cook seasonally. I would highly recommend subscribing to a weekly fruit and vegetable box that supports local farms. If it’s too much of a commitment, start incorporating seasonal fruits and vegetables into your weekly meal planning. Trying to change old habits, you will start enjoying your food so much more. As you will be eating tastier fruit in the season it grows best, like strawberries, and there will be no need to add extra flavours like sugar.
Q: We are becoming more conscious of what we eat and how it affects our brain health. What foods would you recommend we add into our weekly shop to nourish our brain?
A: I’m not a nutritionist or dietician, but working with others who are, I have learnt to include foods like: berries, beans, pulses, omega 3 also with chia and flaxseed, fermented foods and deep leafy greens. Children might find deep leafy greens a bit bitter so always pair it with sweet potato or carrots to make it tasty. If you are very busy, you can make a simple soup and add foods like beans for extra flavour and nutritional value. My best friend has become a thermos flask! Always remember to chew and most importantly, enjoy it.
Think back to when your friendly audiologist first fitted your hearing aids. Perhaps life was slightly different back then. For many of us, the pandemic has changed much of what we do and how we do it. It stands to reason that the jobs we are asking our hearing aid to do may be different too.
If you rediscovered the green spaces near your home during the pandemic, you weren’t alone. More than 40% of us upped our time spent outdoors and noticed that nature, wildlife, and visiting local green spaces were important to our wellbeing1.
If you’ve rediscovered the joy of a long walk, listening out for different bird calls and hearing the crunch of autumn leaves under your feet, you might like to investigate the newer models of hearing devices that come with settings that suppress wind noise and allow you to focus on the soundscape around you instead. They can be equally beneficial to those of us who rediscovered our bikes or the peace and quiet of fishing, too.
Thanks to the pandemic, many of us are finding new ways to work (and meet) online. The good news is some of the latest devices allow you to connect your devices to your laptop or phone via Bluetooth, so you can communicate with clarity and confidence in whatever meeting you’re in. You can also stream music more clearly, enhancing your enjoyment at all levels and taking advantage of all that technology has to offer.
There isn’t a new model every year that renders what you have virtually obsolete. But the technology is always evolving, and experts say you might want a pair with newer features.
“There are noticeable technology advances every three to five years, primarily in processing speed and advances to digital signal processing and noise reduction, which eases the listening experience,” says Charlotte Jones, Head of Audiology at Leightons Hearing Care.
For example, the way hearing aids handle background noise and attempt to separate speech from noise is constantly improving.
Some hearing aids now have
and others function as tinnitus maskers.
built-in sensors for falls,
“ ”
Life changes are a natural part of aging; significant ones can impact our hearing, whether good or bad. As we age, it’s not uncommon for some patients to need a different level of support each time a set of hearing aids is changed. Degenerative conditions like arthritis can facilitate the need for devices that are easier to handle.
At the same time, improving health with better habits that include eating better and exercising could benefit from new devices that can be incorporated into a more active lifestyle.
Just like your eyes, you should have your hearing checked every second year (at least). It’s all part of looking after your overall health. When you’re there, you can see how the latest hearing aids have evolved.
Book a free demonstration by calling us on 0800 40 20 20 or book online at leightons.co.uk/book
It’s almost 100 years since H.O. Leighton founded our family business. But the challenges facing his planet feel a world away from the challenges our generation faces today.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), our last decade was the hottest on record for 125 years and since 1900, sea levels have risen faster than in any preceding century. At Leightons, our north star is: ‘To See, To Hear, To Live’. But the question of how best “To Live” in response to these times has made us adapt and think carefully about the impact we have on the planet and people we serve. That’s why we founded our Kaizen Initiative .
Kaizen is the Japanese word whose literal translation is Kai = Change and Zen = Good. To us, it will represent our focus to continuously improve, learning what small steps we can take to make a meaningful difference over time. Here are some of the changes we’ve introduced so far:
When it comes to responsible consumption, we are committed to offering our customers added choice. We introduced sustainable eyewear brands, ECO and AllPoets, who use recycled materials to produce high quality frames and sunglasses.
We are working with suppliers such as Coopervision to limit the amount of plastic going into landfill. All of our branches now collect the plastic capsules that contact lenses come in for recycling. Plus, our new Leightons branded spectacle case is crafted from 100% recycled materials.
We support The Trussell Trust, who support a nationwide network of foodbanks. Many of our branches continue to have food collection points. We also encourage our branches to forge links with our communities, supporting local charities and environmental groups.
We have joined other like minded businesses in the Ecologi community (ecologi.com), to plant trees to help offset the carbon footprint of some of our activities. For every 5 orders we dispatch to customers, we plant 1 tree. We are well on our way to planting our first 1000 trees, and the great news is that you can support us too by visiting ecologi.com/lohcandthcp
For our teams in the field (our Audiologists, Senior Managers and Pulse teams) we are moving over to fully electric or hybrid vehicles where possible. In addition to this we are looking at ways to make better use of technology to host meetings and events so our teams don’t have to travel as much. We are also talking to our suppliers to find ways to streamline transport and delivery methods.
We’ve commissioned an external audit which has helped us to identify the areas where we can make a positive difference and that has shaped our initiatives, and will guide us on our path to make further changes in time.
We appreciate that these are small steps on a much longer and infinite journey to improve the world around us and support the society in which we work and live.
We are combining our efforts internally and externally with our suppliers to ensure we are being better. Better for our planet, better for the environment and ultimately being better in how we do business. We’ll keep you updated as we go along.
As a nation, we’ve never been more concerned with where our food comes from, how it is produced and at what cost to our environment. But even more concern should be given to the lives of those who dedicate themselves to growing it.
That’s the focus of Sunday Times bestselling author, Sarah Langford’s new book: Rooted.
Born and raised in Winchester, she left her country roots behind to live and work in London as a barrister. But when she found herself moving to the Suffolk countryside, to take on the management of her husband’s small family farm, she saw farmers dealing with very different problems to those faced by her grandfather, who had fed a starving nation after the war.
“My grandfather Peter,” Sarah writes, “was a hero who fed a starving nation. Now his son Charlie, my uncle, is considered a villain, blamed for ecological catastrophe and with a legacy no one wants.”
Beleaguered with the challenges of climate change, Brexit and falling incomes, farmers face accusations of ecological mismanagement from a hostile media and public. But Sarah’s book charts how she looked to them to teach her about the land and in doing so, she found a new generation of farmers on a path of regenerative change.
Described by the Financial Times as ‘powerful, moving and often captivating’, Rooted shines a light on the human side of modern farming, and shows us how land connects us all, not only in terms of global sustainability but in our relationships with our physical and mental health, our communities, our planet and ourselves.
We are lucky to have 5 copies to give away to Talking Points readers. All you need to do is email competition@leightons.co.uk with your details and we’ll reward the first 5 readers a FREE copy of Sarah’s book “Rooted”
It’s true – human beings have never been more connected by the screens we carry in our pockets.
We’re connected to our teams at work by email and apps like WhatsApp and Slack – not to mention video calls like Zoom and Google Meet. We’re connected to our friends and family, through a myriad of WhatsApp groups, Facebook, iMessages and Messenger. And we’re connected to the world through platforms like Twitter and Instagram. So it’s no wonder the amount of time we spend looking at a screen is going up.
A recent study found that we spend 3 hours 37 minutes a day, on average, on smartphones, tablets and computers (nine minutes more than in 2019)1 .
Our increased screen use puts more strain on our eyes. Recent research has shown that over 20% of adults experience increasing myopia. Although three-quarters of adults with myopia have stable vision by age 18, almost one-quarter continue to progress2 .
Myopia is the clinical term for shortsightedness. It means that people see distant objects as blurry. Although myopia can be a result of family history and lifestyle, there is increasing evidence to suggest that extended periods of time doing high concentration, close vision tasks can increase myopic symptoms 3
You may notice that you are experiencing:
• Blurry vision when looking at distant objects.
• The need to squint or partially close your eyelids to see clearly.
• Headaches caused by eyestrain.
If you develop myopia, there are a number of products that can help manage it.
1. Multifocal glasses or contact lenses – these lenses take the strain off the focusing muscles for near vision and provide a comfortable transition to clear distance vision.
2. Orthokeratology (Ortho-k) –help reshape the surface of the eye, as you sleep.
The earlier you begin a myopia management programme, the more effective it will be – so it is best to start when you first notice signs of myopia progression.
At Leightons, we offer a wide selection of the best products to manage myopia:
• Soft contact lenses – like MiSight ® by Coopervision, reduce the progression of myopia by up to 59% 4
• Ortho-K contact lenses – great if you want to be glasses and contact lens free. You simply wear them at night and remove them in the morning to give crisp, glasses and contact lens free vision all day!
Of course, protecting our eyes from the sun is just as beneficial as looking after them when using screens too. According to a Transitions Study, our eyes are 10 times more sensitive to UV light than our skin, yet only 7% of us are aware of the damage it causes 5
In the UK, cumulative exposure to UV is one of the main causes of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
• Choose sunglasses that are CE-marked and block at least 95% of UV rays. At Leightons we only stock sunglasses that offer a minimum of 99% protection. UV400 sunglasses will block all ultraviolet light, which includes both UVA and UVB.
• Make sure any kids sunglasses are properly UV rated, as many toy sunglasses don’t offer adequate protection.
• Wear sunglasses as often as you can outside – yes, even on cloudy days.
Whether you choose wraparound sunglasses, which stay-put whatever the activity, or classic shades, our team can help you find a fit that’s comfy and help you to live life to the full from top brands like Maui Jim and Ray-Ban.
Simply
1Ofcom, Online Nation report, 2021 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/220414/online-nation-2021-report.pdf 2 Article: https://www.optometrists. org/general-practice-optometry/guide-to-myopia-management/does-myopia-progression-affect-adults/#:~:text=Recent%20research%20has%20shown%20 that,continues%20to%20worsen%20each%20year.
https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035135/
Clinical trial,
between
The MyLeightons Care Plan is the easy way to look after your eyes and hearing – for life.
For just £12 a month, we’ll deliver the highest quality care you need, along with peace of mind, convenience, and a range of valuable benefits and exclusive money-saving offers.
• An annual Ultimate or OCT Eye Examination (dependent on location), offering a complete ocular health check and early detection for better protection against glaucoma, macular degeneration and other health conditions
• Free contact lens consultation - contact lens consultation, fitting, upgrade and aftercare - hearing test & ear impressions for hearing protection
• 10% off - Daily Disposable contact lenses - Hearing aids
• 20% off - complete glasses (including lenses) - prescription and non-prescription sunglasses - all optical accessories - hearing aftercare & disposables (batteries, wax filters and domes) and wireless accessories
• 30% off - a second pair of glasses (including lenses) purchased within three months of your initial pair - a second set of hearing aids within one year of initial purchase
• 50% off - accidental breakage cover for prescription glasses - up to 50% off Gas Permeable contact lenses
And so much more.
ADDLESTONE
ALTON ANDOVER
BASINGSTOKE
BURNHAM-ON-SEA (David Bull Optometrists)
CAMBERLEY
CHANDLERS FORD
CHRISTCHURCH (Raxworthy Visioncare)
CIRENCESTER
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FAREHAM
FARNHAM
FLEET
HASLEMERE
HAYWARDS HEATH
HEMPSTEAD VALLEY
LEADENHALL STREET
LEWES (Spectrum Eyecare)
MARLOW (Leightons Insight)
POOLE PUTNEY READING SOUTHAMPTON
ST. ALBANS
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Enjoy complete care and total peace of mind.