AARP The Magazine

A dozen tidbits from the latest issue of AARP The Magazine:

1. Swimming reduces blood pressure, according to a study in The American Journal of Cardiology.  No big surprise there.  But, related advice caught my attention:  When you have your blood pressure checked, get a reading from both arms.  "Differences in readings can indicate a narrowing of the arteries."
2. July and August are the best months to buy a new car, in advance of the new models.  Get an accurate price at True.com before heading in to a dealership.  
3. A study of 144 million airline ticket purchases shows that prices are lowest six weeks before departure.  
4. About 60 percent of The United Inventors Association of America are 50 or older.  "Older adults have more experience, plus the insight and persistence to get a product to market," says Jeffrey Dobkin, author of How to Market a Product for Under $500.  
5. You can get paid to lose weight.  Websites like HealthyWage.com and DietBet.com promote competitions to drop pounds.  StickK.com pits weight loss goals against forced giving.  If you don't meet your goals, you have to pony up to an organization you oppose!  (80% of dieters who choose this motivation meet their goals.)
6. Joint pain sufferers have new alternatives.  The most macabre is called prolotherapy, which involves a doctor injecting a known irritant via hypodermic needle into an injury site, causing the body to "wake up and respond to the injury."  This works even if just a dry needle is poked around for a bit in an inflamed joint.  Much better than cortisone, it turns out, which has some nasty side effects.
7. People eat less from a dark plate.  The Cornell Food and Brand Lab experimented with buffet diners.  With white plates poeple piled on 24 percent more food.  
8. Carry bigger bills in your wallet.  People are more reluctant to spend a $20 bill than a $5 bill.  This  can curb impulse buys.
9. Want a cheap thrill?  Cross a suspension bridge.  The swinging wooden Capilano suspension bridge above the Capilano River near Vancouver, the Wheeling bridge spanning the Ohio River in West Virginia, and the wood-planked bridge 1053 feet above the Royal Gorge near Canon City, Colorado, all will make your heart pound and provide some awesome photo ops.
10. In the early 1970's the five-year survival rate for all invasive cancers was 4.3 percent.  Today it is 67 percent.  
11. Before selecting a financial planner, go to FINRA.org and SEC.gov to see if regulatory actions have been taken against your planner.  Check to see whether he or she is registered with your state securities department at NASAA.org, where you will also see a history of complaints.
12. (And my favorite) Politeness can be bad for your health, especially in high stakes situations.  Research published in Current Directions in Psychological Science shows that people who use words like may, probably, or possibly to lighten the blow of a complaint or request, actually end up creating confusion and mis-understandings--a source of tension rather than mitigation.