News Roundup: Happiness, Anti-aging Research, Brain Health, Breast Cancer Risk, and the Midlife Financial Sandwich. Whew!

A glance at news stories that caught our eye:

"The Pursuit of Happiness: Six Experts Tell What They've Done to Achieve It" - Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required)

Jonathan Clements gets advice from researchers into human happiness. Their advice: celebrate little things, be creative in minimizing unpleasant activities, make extra effort to see friends and family, make or buy good memories, and limit your options.

"An Examination of Risk" -- Los Angeles Times

Reporter Mary Beckman summarizes current thinking about breast cancer risk and recommendations for frequency of examination. The good news: the risk may be less than you think. It also points the the National Institutes of Health's Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool.

"How To Keep Your Aging Brain Fit: Aerobics" - Wall Street Journal

The state of the art in brain health, writes Sharon Begley, is that "scientists have found something that not only halts the brain shrinkage that starts in a person's 40s, especially in regions responsible for memory and higher cognition, but actually reverses it: aerobic exercise. As little as three hours a week of brisk walking -- no Stairmaster required -- apparently increases blood flow to the brain and triggers biochemical changes that increase production of new brain neurons."

"Solutions for the Sandwich Generation" - On Investing (Charles Schwab)

Quick advice on how to juggle paying for your children's education, saving for your retirement, and taking care of your parents. One tidbit that sticks: "put yourself first." If you're not around, you can't help those close to you.

"Wrinkle Creams: Selling Hope in a Jar" -- Consumer Reports (subscription)

Looking for ways to save after the holidays? Consider trimming the makeup budget. Consumer Reports says "our top-rated (wrinkle creams) did smooth out some fine lines and wrinkles. But even the best performers reduced the average depth of wrinkles by less than 10 percent, a magnitude of change that was, alas, barely visible to the naked eye." They considered Olay Regenerist and Lancôme Paris Rénergie "slightly more effective," but noted that performance varied widely from person to person.

"Researchers Seek Key to Antiaging In Calorie Cutback" -- Wall Street Journal

If you want to live longer, consider drinking 300 glasses of red wine a day, or cut your caloric intake by a third. If neither is appealing, wait a few years for the commercialization of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine. Promising research may explain how the "starvation response" to lower food intake seems to extend lifespan, and how resveratrol may trigger that response. It's all quite controversial.

The WSJ's David Stipp also reported in November that the first mammal trials indicate that "resveratrol at high doses can block many of the deleterious effects of high-calorie diets in mice, enabling them to survive significantly longer than they normally would on fattening fare. Results showing how much longer mice taking resveratrol may live aren't yet complete because some of them are still alive. But preliminary findings indicate they may have a lifespan extension of 20%."