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Always speak very clearly to older people

Lifestyles

DEAR HELOISE: As people age, their speech starts to slur. Consonants soften; voices become monotone. The guttural parts of sound lessen. Speaking clearly to compensate for the loss of these vocal characteristics is very helpful to older folks with tinnitus and ordinary hearing loss. (This was explained to me by an acoustical engineer.) — Andy G., in Youngstown, New York DEAR HELOISE: I very much related to the reader who wrote about enunciation. I often get people who know that I’m partially deaf and feel like they have to talk really loud, and I often tell them it’s not ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

Lifestyles

Safety plays take many forms, but the underlying principle is always the same: In order to protect against an unfavorable distribution of the adverse cards, declarer risks losing a trick he might not have to lose. The large family of safety plays need not be memorized. They should suggest themselves automatically when a threatening set of circumstances arises. In this deal, South sees he has only seven tricks immediately available at three notrump, and that the best source of additional tricks lies in the diamond suit. The normal way of approaching the diamonds is to cash the king and ...

MRIs are generally superior to CT scan

Lifestyles

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a pacemaker that was installed in January 2024. This is a newer model that’s said to be safe for those who need an MRI. I have a neoplasm that was recently discovered in the parotid gland on the right side of my head. The doctors at a referral hospital attempted to do a biopsy on the mass in the center of the gland. But the biopsy failed as the tissue samples were only obtained from benign tissue surrounding the neoplasm, not from the mass. My doctor doesn’t want to attempt another biopsy, as the biopsy procedure that failed was very lengthy and lasted for ...

HINTS FROM HELOISE:Let them eat cake — all year

Lifestyles

DEAR HELOISE: In regard to Jim R.’s office birthday system, I worked at a place that only had 12 employees. On the first working day in January, a small piece of paper with everyone’s name, birthday and favorite flavor of cake went into a bowl. Everyone would then draw a name, and you were responsible for that person’s cake and card. It was the same concept as Jim’s office; you only had to bring one cake and card once a year, but you got to eat many different flavors of cake all year long. There were a few that were store-bought, but most were homemade since many employees were ...

Stop-smoking drug can trigger behavior changes

Lifestyles

Q. I noticed vile words coming out of my mouth after a week on the stop-smoking drug varenicline (Chantix). I had many “Did I really just say that?” moments. I turned into a mean, angry person on this drug. I decided to go cold turkey instead and went on anti-anxiety meds for three days. That worked for me, and I’ve been totally smoke-free for 18 years now. A. We have received more than a thousand comments about this medication. Some people have been very pleased with their results. For example, Steve said, “Took Chantix; quit smoking. No issues. Wonder drug.” Others, like ...

DEAR ANNIE: Always follow cellphone etiquette in public

Lifestyles

DEAR ANNIE: I’m starting to wonder if headphones have gone out of style. Last week, I was sitting in a doctor’s waiting room when a woman across from me put her phone on speaker and had a very loud, very personal conversation for nearly 20 minutes. Everyone in the room could hear about her sister, her husband and what sounded like an argument over money. No one said anything, but several of us exchanged looks. A few days later, I was at the nail salon hoping for a little peace and quiet, and another customer was watching videos at full volume. Between the music, the commentary and ...