Blog Posts by ThirdAge.com

At last week's TEDx Women's Conference, two fascinating doctors (one of them Dr. Mehmet Oz) and Barbra Streisand talked about women's health. The Conference was a bi-coastal event produced by the Paley Center for Media. Streisand , 69, looking amazingly young and fresh-faced, spoke from the Paley Center's Los Angeles office. She reeled off some surprising statistics about women and heart disease as a way of introducing Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, who heads the Women's Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

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Streisand noted that four percent of women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually while 44 percent are diagnosed with heart disease. And even though heart disease is often called a man's disease, since 1984 more women than men have been dying from heart disease annually. Worldwide, while four hundred thousand women die of breast cancer, over eight million die of heart

Woman Dying Hair

In June of 2011, scientists at New York University's Langone Medical Center created a flurry of excitement among the graying Boomer cohort with the announcement that they had succeeded in isolating a protein that is key to the pigmentation of hair. Yet while their research could point to a breakthrough down the road, as of now gray hair is right up there with death and taxes as a sure thing. Sooner or later, typically in our 30s and 40s -- or a bit beyond that for Asians and African-Americans -- the color-producing melanocytes in our hair follicles begin to dwindle. Eventually, they're gone altogether. Given that inescapable effect of aging, we have two choices: Either we can join the "amazing grays" who carry off a silver mane with aplomb or we can opt for dyeing our fading locks.

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Here's what you need to know about starting or continuing to color your hair.

Can Hair Dye Cause

Mature Couple

By now everyone knows that the marital union of Kim Kardashian and her soon to never-be-remembered-name hubby was extremely brief, and that many marriages, even among couples who are less famous or fabulous, just don't stick, but is it ever too late to get divorced? Once you get past the famous "seven-year itch," are you safe?

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Recent divorce rate stats indicate that marriages that go bust tend to bust after just three or four years. That makes sense when the couple is young or fairly young and you think how much time it takes just to get used to being married. Throw in the added pressure of bringing into the world a new life (and young couples tend to have their first child within the first three or four years of their marriage) and it's easy to see why these couples so often break up.

More recently, there has been an uptick in people who have been married for 20 or more

Breakfast

As we grow older, our metabolism inevitably slows down. Experts say that this is because of muscle loss, which can play a big role in your metabolic rate. Since women tend to lose about five and seven pounds of muscle every ten years beginning in the mid-20s, their resting metabolic rate decreases, which means fewer calories are burned throughout the day. However, the good news is that in addition to regular exercise, there are things you can do to rev up your metabolism at any age.

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Eat Breakfast. It's true what they say: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many studies have shown that people who eat breakfast lose more weight than those who skip it. Begin your day with a 300-400 calorie meal high in protein and complex carbohydrates, which will jump-start your metabolism for the day and cause you to feel more energized. Aim for high-fiber carbohydrates, which will

Meryl Streep

"I might have preferred iron, but bronze will do. It won't rust!" said Lady Margaret Thatcher, the forme British Prime Minister, when unveiling a statue of herself placed next to that of Sir Winston Churchill.

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Well, maybe next February we'll all be watching the Academy Awards and you'll be wondering where lies the prize?

But I won't be. Hands down, I already decided. Last Monday, I saw one of the greatest films ever, "The Iron Lady," with a performance by Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher that outstrips even the star's sixteen past nominations and her two Oscar wins. (She won a best supporting statuette for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and then a best actress award for "Sophie's Choice.")

What is it about the British; lately they can't seem to do anything right but when it comes to re-making history into film, there's nobody better. Last year, "The King's Speech" rightly

Dr. Obagi

"Women are bombarded daily with beauty advice and information-much of it conflicting or just plain wrong," says Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi. "With 30 years of skincare experience and access to the leading research and technology, I know firsthand what really keeps skin young and radiant."

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Here are Dr. Obagi's top five skincare tips:

Give skin a jolt.

"At age 30, skin cells start to become dormant," explains Dr. Obagi. "You need to wake them up and encourage them to produce collagen and elastin. Keeping those skin cells in the dermis functioning well is important for maintaining a healthy, youthful appearance. Look for products that contain high concentrations of retinol. It's the most effective ingredient for anti-aging."

Get a little rough.

"To keep skin cells active and awake, gently slap your face all over. This strategy improves circulation,

Jane Fonda

Last week ThirdAge went to the TEDxWomen's Conference produced and curated by the Paley Center for Media and hosted by the Center's CEO Pat Mitchell. It was a bi-coastal event held in the Paley Center's New York and Los Angeles' s offices. There were interesting sessions throughout the day, but ThirdAge was particularly impressed by the one focused on aging. It was hosted by Jane Fonda, who looked great.

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Fonda ,74, started it off by discussing her own experiences and saying she was "smack dab in the middle of my third act. And I have never been happier." She said she has been researching and writing about aging while working on her recently released best seller "Prime Time." "I have learned that the longevity revolution is the greatest revolution ever and that older women are the largest demographic in the world."

She said that traditionally we have thought of life as an arc

Once upon a time, the usual image of retirement was one of a couple filling their days with leisurely, enjoyable activities. They went on long vacations they'd never had time for, read all the books they'd been stacking up over the years, began a new hobby or joined gardening or church groups. Other than volunteering, work just wasn't part of the picture.

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But that vision has gone the way of giant cell phones. As you'd expect from a generation that changed so many aspects of our lives, the boomers (77 million people born between 1946 and 1964) are approaching retirement in a very different way. They're working past the usual retirement age, and though going into an office everyday can keep your mind sharp, more and more boomers are working for another reason entirely: financial security.

Results of an Associated Press/LifeGoesStrong.com poll, released earlier this month, revealed