Author: Tom

Source https://tinybuddha.com/blog/the-unexpected-way-jiu-jitsu-brought-me-back-to-myself/

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are.” ~Maya Angelou

There was a time in my life when everything felt heavy, like I was constantly carrying around a weight that no one else could see.

I wasn’t in a crisis, exactly. I was functioning, showing up, doing what needed to be done. But inside, I was struggling to stay afloat—trapped in my own head, questioning my worth, and unsure how to move forward.

One evening, I walked into a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class for the first time. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know the rules, the language, or even how to tie the belt on…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/long-lived-turtles-are-highly-resistant-to-cancer/

The most interesting comparative biology programs aim to use the cellular biochemistry of unusually regenerative, long-lived, and cancer resistant species as a tool to better understand our vulnerabilities to aging and injury. In principle, understanding why a species is unusually long-lived could point to a basis for therapies to slow aging in humans, while understanding why species such as naked mole-rats, elephants, whales, and turtles have such low incidence rates of cancer could point to ways to shut down human cancers. This remains a hypothesis, as comparative biology research has not yet advanced to the point at which technology demonstratio…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/microglial-dysfunction-and-cholesterol-metabolism-dysregulation-in-the-aging-brain/

Researchers studying neurodegenerative conditions have increasingly focused on the role of microglia in recent years. Microglia are innate immune cells analogous to the macrophages found in the rest of the body. They undertake a broad range of tasks including defense against pathogens, destruction of malfunctioning cells, coordination of tissue maintenance and regeneration, and assisting in alterations to the networks of synaptic connections between neurons necessary for the function of the brain. With age, some microglia <a href="https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/07/microglia-in-the-aging…

Source https://minimalistbaker.com/best-gluten-free-pumpkin-bread/

Fall has three essentials: cozy sweaters, warming soups, and PUMPKIN BREAD! Whether your fond memories of this spice-filled treat are from Starbucks, Grandma’s house, or your favorite box mix, we’re bringing you alllll the nostalgia! This homemade gluten-free + dairy-free pumpkin bread is FLUFFY, tender, spice-filled, and has the perfect balance of sweetness and pumpkin flavor!

Just 1 bowl and simple ingredients required for this fall classic.

The BEST Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread (1 Bowl!) from Minimalist Ba…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/evidence-for-particulate-air-pollution-to-encourage-%CE%B1-synuclein-aggregation/

Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia are synucleinopathies, forms of neurodegeneration characterized by the misfolding and aggregation of α-synuclein. Given an initial misfolding event, this pathology can spread from cell to cell through the nervous system and brain, one misfolded molecule encouraging others to also misfold in the same way. The resulting disruption of cell biochemistry kills neurons, particularly those involved in <a href…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/elevated-homocysteine-as-a-contributing-cause-of-aortic-stiffness/

High levels of the circulating amino acid homocysteine are regarded as a risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. It can occur due to dietary deficiency, particularly in B vitamins, but since elevated levels are fairly common in later life there are clearly other contributing factors. Well established approaches based on diet and supplements do exist to attempt to lower homocysteine levels. Researchers here provide evidence in an animal model for raised homocysteine to also contribute to the stiffness of arteries. Blood vessel stiffening <a href="https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2014/05/arterial-stiffening-is-enough-to-explain…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/greater-particulate-air-pollution-correlates-with-greater-severity-of-dementia/

Exposure to particulate matter and other air pollution is generally agreed upon to be bad for long-term health. The worse the exposure, the worse the outcome. The epidemiological data is quite convincing, particularly studies in those parts of the world where, by happenstance, very similar populations are exposed to very different degrees of air pollution. The consensus on biological mechanisms is that pollutants interact with lung and airway tissues to provoke greater systemic inflammation. That inflammation in turn accelerates the onset and progression of all of the major fatal conditions of aging. Here the focus is on dementia, but other stud…

Source https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2025/09/treating-aging-as-the-cure-for-the-pharmaceutical-industrys-financial-woes/

The pharmaceutical industry suffers from all of the issues that plaque heavily regulated industries that have been heavily regulated for a long time. Costs increase, restrictions increase, the ability to create new medicines declines. Everyone sees at least part of the problem, but no one person and no one group is in a position to change enough of the perverse incentives that operate during regulatory capture in order to meaningfully steer away from a collapse into mediocrity and inability to make progress. People have certainly tried! The past few decades have seen intense lobbying and patient advocacy on the part of quite well funded groups and influential insiders in regulators and industry, aiming to reduce the cost and speed up regulatory approval of new therapies. Yet this is the same period of time in which the <a href="https://www.fightaging.o…

Source https://seniorplanet.org/articles-ask-joan-frustrated/

Joan Price, Senior Planet’s Sex Columnist, advises a man hoping to still have some sex life when his wife’s enthusiasm has waned to zero.

The post Ask Joan: Frustrated and Stuck appeared first on Senior Planet from AARP.

…

Source https://tinybuddha.com/blog/my-daughter-needed-me-to-choose-better-so-i-did/

“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.” ~W.E.B. Du Bois

I was standing at the service bar, waiting for my drink order to be ready. The scent of steak fat clinging to my apron and infusing itself into my bra, while twenty-something servers around me whined about working on Mother’s Day… yet I was the only mother working that night.

I’d barely slept because I’d closed the restaurant the night before.

My nine-year-old daughter had just told me she wished she were dead.

And here I was, pretending to care about side plates and drink refills when all I wanted was to be home holding her, telling h…