Fear is a powerful emotion. It typically rears its ugly head if we feel threatened.  Thousands of years ago we feared being eaten by Sabertooth tigers. Who wouldn't

be afraid of the beast pictured here?   

This fear triggered a fight or flight response. This is now hard-wired into our brains and represents a genetic wisdom designed to protect us from bodily harm. 

When our hypothalamus is stimulated it sets off a sequence of nerve cell firing and chemical releases that prepares our body for running or fighting.

When we face very real dangers to our physical survival, the adrenalin generated by this response is invaluable; it can empower a mother to lift a car off a child. 

Today, however, most of the Sabertooth tigers we encounter are not a threat to our physical survival. In this day and age, the saber tooth tigers consist of rush hour traffic, missing a deadline, bouncing a check or having an argument with our boss or spouse. 

Still, these modern day Sabertooth tigers trigger the activation of our fight or flight response and cause stress hormones to flow into our bodies for events that pose no real threat to our physical survival. This is very bad for our physical health. It can and does lead to chronic health problems and death from heart attacks and stroke.

I meet many people who are afraid that they will run out of money for basic necessities such as food and shelter.

If you are not open to contemplating the task of reorganizing your life, I cannot help you. 

However, if you are motivated to move from fear to hope, read on. For me, the pain of fear is enough to cause me to change.   Here are some tools to fight the Saber tooth and to stop fearing that you will be decimated by your financial situation. 

First, take stock of your values. 

Do you value your things or do you value peace of mind? It is a very simple question. I have a very dear friend who ran out of money. She is now almost 70. She lived in a beautiful four bedroom townhome (a thing) for 30 years.  She chose to sell that home, put what she could away and move into a studio apartment in a very nice area of Palm Springs. 

The anxiety of not being able to pay for her mortgage and food and medical expenses lifted. That house no longer had value to her. What are your values? If you have a home and there is equity in it ask yourself if ensuing that your children inherit its full equity is more important than allaying your fears about money and the ongoing quality of your existence.  

If the answer is no, get a reverse mortgage. This question can be applied to other worldly "valuables." Does the joy of looking at a particular painting or polishing an old silver set outweigh the relief of having that money to sock away? 

The Alzheimer's Corner

University of Cincinnati researchers recruit Alzheimer's patients for study of new drug

CINCINNATI - Anyone who has a friend or family member with Alzheimer's disease will tell you: The need for medicine that stops the disease is urgent.

In the quest for new treatments, researchers at the University of Cincinnati are now recruiting Alzheimer's patients to test the effectiveness of a new, investigational drug on memory and performance of daily activities, such as bathing, dressing, and preparing meals.

UC researchers hope the drug, called MK-8931, will be a weapon in the fight against Alzheimer's.

"We are hoping that it will stop the progression of the disease," says Muhammad Aslam, MD. "It's been over 10 years since we had the last medication, and a lot of medications since then have failed."

Aslam is an associate professor in the UC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and principal investigator of the study at the University of Cincinnati.

UC is one of 80 national and international centers participating in the clinical trial, which is sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
 

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