The world of conflicting information is still doing well, thanks. In the 1950’s, doctors who smoked, smoked Camels. By the 1990’s, many of those doctors had passed away. A few decades back, headlines announced that black pepper caused cancer. Then, miraculously, it didn’t.

We humans anticipate that certain things will happen at specific times of the year. Flowers are supposed to bloom in spring and summer; snow is supposed to fall in winter. Unfortunately, certain physical conditions follow a similar timeline. We might get athlete’s foot in the summer from walking unshod on the lawn, and might catch a cold in winter, usually from being cooped up in a stuffy building surrounded by contagious people.

Is it O.K. to talk about addiction in the context of food consumption? Because some people believe that foods high in fats or carbohydrates might be addictive, does it mean that foods should be regarded in the same way as alcohol or cigarettes? Or is there confusion among the terms addiction, craving and eating disorders?

The boundary between seniors and old people has shifted over the years. Some people are deemed old because they are grandparents—even at forty-five. Others become old when they retire, regardless of age or circumstance. Despite getting a seniors’ discount at age 50, or 60 or 65, some folks don’t fit the definition because of their mindset, Social Security or not.

Do you realize how much and how often we put our faith and trust in other people? You trust that the car coming the other way won’t cross into your lane, and that the waiter washed his hands at least once before coming to your table. And you trust that your food is clean, whether from the supermarket, the butcher or the waiter.

Good for you. You’re going to Disney World. But don’t say you’re anxious about it. It’s okay to be anxious about going to the dentist. It’s understandable that you’d be anxious about your debut at an IRS audit. Unless you‘re terrified by the characters, you’re eager, not anxious, about visiting Walt’s place. T

Ahh, the sweet balm that soothes the nerves and restores the soul at the end of the day. Sadly, for some of us it is elusive, and its intangible rewards sporadic. Sleep. It can get interrupted, disrupted and corrupted. Even in its worst state, sleep can be the most desired gift for the time.

If ever there was a commonality among the senior crowd, lack of sound sleep is a top contender. An enigma of the twenty-first century—based on hustle and bustle, multiple job and social obligations, and harried family life—is that the definition of senior now includes fifty-year-olds. Some people contend that fifty is the new thirty; others hold that it’s the new seventy, largely based on inflammatory markers not visible from the outside.

The same oxygen you need to stay alive and to burn food for energy makes you oxidize just as fast as a rusty fender on the old jalopy in the back yard…or maybe in the driveway if your surname is Clampett at 90210. If your apples turn brown and your fish or butter becomes rancid, blame it on oxygen. Lungs, eyes, skin, fruits, vegetables, herbs, you name it. If it has cells, it’ll oxidize and those cells will change.