Author: Lance Garrison

I had my head in a law book when I heard the drums. That was the sound of the first campus protest I’d ever experienced. I’d come to Harvard Law School in the fall of 1991 as a graduate of a small, very conservative Christian college in Nashville. Many of my college classmates had passionate religious and political commitments, but street protest was utterly alien to the Christian culture of the school. We were rule followers, and public protest looked a bit too much like anarchy for our tastes.But Harvard was different. The law school was every bit as progressive…

People who start to lose their hearing know it can have a big impact on life, but they may be surprised by the way it can affect their emotions. They might feel helpless or depressed, and get angry or frustrated.All are normal reactions. But you can face those feelings and get through this tricky transition.“Hearing loss is a loss like any other in our lives,” says Angela Nelson, AuD, a hearing doctor in Burbank, CA. “It’s a death of part of an individual, [and you have] to move through the grief process.”To do that, reach out to friends and family…

Not long after Debbie McClure was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an immune system disorder that causes dry mouth, she sat down to a roast beef dinner. She was still adjusting to her condition. So she didn’t fully realize how not having enough saliva, which helps move food from the mouth and down the throat, would make it hard to swallow, especially with dry foods — like her overcooked roast beef. “I attempted to swallow a bite, but it lodged in my throat,” says McClure, a writer based in Ontario, Canada. She grabbed a glass of water and, sip by sip,…

The science is clear: Eating the right foods can lead to a longer, healthier life.But some people find it harder to eat right as they get older for many reasons. Maybe they don’t have much of an appetite. Maybe they have trouble cooking or eating. Maybe they don’t know what’s healthy. Or maybe they do and just don’t like the idea of kale.“You know what? You can live a long, healthy life and never eat a piece of kale,” says Cheryl Rock, PhD, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego School of…

Does it seem like you get sick more than you did when you were younger. When you are under the weather, does it take you longer to feel good again?Immunity — your body’s defense system — tends to get weaker with age.“Just as you probably can’t run as fast as you used to in your 20s, your immune system doesn’t work as well as it used to,” says Aaron E. Glatt, MD, chairman of the department of medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospitals.But fear not — at least not much.“Compared to many other bodily functions, most people’s immune systems actually…

Getting adequate nutrition can be a challenge as you get older. With age, the number of calories you need begins to decline. Every calorie you consume must be packed with nutrition in order to hit the mark.Even then, you may fall short. “As we get older, the body becomes less efficient at absorbing some key nutrients,” says Katherine Tucker, RD, PhD, chair of the department of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. In addition, the ability to taste food declines, blunting appetite. Some foods become difficult to chew or digest.Several key nutrients in particular may be in short supply…

I mentioned it in passing in my Friday column, but I was struck — disturbed, really — by one specific point made by Justice Samuel Alito during Thursday’s oral arguments in Trump v. United States.Alito began innocuously enough: “I’m sure you would agree with me that a stable democratic society requires that a candidate who loses an election, even a close one, even a hotly contested one, leave office peacefully if that candidate is the incumbent.”“Of course,” answered Michael Dreeben, the lawyer arguing the case for the Department of Justice.“Now,” Alito continued, “if an incumbent who loses a very close,…

There’s something in the air, and it’s not just pollen. Spring break, spring vacation, spring weddings — spring fever. We want to get out, wear less, mingle lots. Kids feel it, too. Talk to any teacher, you’ll likely hear there’s craziness in the classrooms.That energy surge, in whatever form it takes, is a function of longer days and lots more sunlight, says Michael Smolensky, PhD, professor at the University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health. He is co-author of the book The Body Clock Guide to Better Health.In fact, many facets of everyday life are governed by seasonal patterns as…

To the Editor:Re “Can Those on the Left Be Happy?,” by Ross Douthat (column, April 7):Mr. Douthat thinks, citing no evidence, that people on the left are “by nature” unhappier than moderates or conservatives, in part because he thinks we don’t believe in God anymore.The left is not “by nature” unhappy; we are often brutally honest with ourselves and unavoidably empathetic to the plights of those who suffer. I wear those traits as a badge of honor.If we feel more unhappy these days, it’s not because it’s in our genes. It’s because we see the truths of our world —…

Conservatives were once America’s environmental champions. Not that long ago, Republican presidents were carrying out the Clean Air and Water Acts, creating the Environmental Protection Agency, expanding the National Park System and even initiating the country’s most authoritative report on climate change, the National Climate Assessment.But times have changed.Many of today’s Republican leaders stoke fear and anger by mocking the most divisive climate activists while claiming that every environmental solution is a radical one. If they’re not doing that, Republicans can often be found on the sidelines and disengaged from the issue completely.Instead of continuing the environmental legacy they were…