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Health Connections Senior Voice of Hernando County - SEPTEMBER 2020 • 17
Senior Voice of Hernando County • SEPTEMBER 2020 • 17
Dying May Not Be as Awful an Experience as You Think
Does the very idea of death worry and authors came closer to the end of life. something in the future,” said James
frighten you? There may be reassurance “I think that when people imagine what Maddux, a senior scholar at George
from a new study that finds those fears dying is like, they see it as being very Mason University’s Center for the
might be exaggerated. Advancement of Well-Being, in Fairfax,
different from the life they know,” Gray
In fact, the research shows, death said. “But really, death is part of life. Va.
is often described as a peaceful, And maybe you don’t need to fear it as “Most things that we fear aren’t nearly
“unexpectedly positive” experience by much as you might.” as bad as we thought they’d be once
those who approach it. they arrive,” said Maddux, who was
The findings, published recently
Death is one of life’s guarantees, yet it’s in Psychological Science, are not not involved in the study. “There’s no
reason to think death would be any
something people often avoid talking entirely surprising, according to one different.”
about, according to study author Kurt researcher.
Gray. He’s an assistant professor at the “In general, people are very bad at Some other study findings, though,
University of North Carolina at Chapel predicting how they’ll feel about Continued on page 18
Hill.
“There’s almost an unspoken
assumption that death is something to Take a moment to talk about cholesterol.
be avoided at all costs,” Gray said. Cholesterol
But his team found that the abstract
concept of death may be scarier than the Conversation Starters
reality.
To look at the question, the researchers Cholesterol can be a confusing health topic for a lot of people, but understanding and managing
first searched for blogs by people who high blood cholesterol is an important step in taking control of heart health. Talk with your family and health
care team about high cholesterol and heart health.
were terminally ill with cancer or Whether you are a patient, a family member, or a health professional, these questions can help you start
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or conversations about cholesterol.
Lou Gehrig’s disease) -- diseases where Get to know the basics of cholesterol.
patients generally maintain their mental • What is cholesterol?
functioning into the advanced stages. • How does high cholesterol affect my risk for heart disease?
• What are the risk factors for high cholesterol?
• What is the difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol?
The researchers turned up blogs from 25
patients, with over 2,600 posts. Have an honest conversation with yourself about cholesterol.
• What are some lifestyle choices I can make to keep my cholesterol in a healthy range?
Next, the study authors recruited 50 • Can I cut back on any foods that are high in saturated fat?
• Do I need to have my cholesterol checked?
healthy people and asked them to
imagine they had terminal cancer and
were keeping a blog to document their Make cholesterol management and heart health a family matter.
• How can we help each other control our risk for high cholesterol?
experience. Those people then wrote a • How are you managing your high cholesterol?
“post” for the blog. • Do we have a family history of high cholesterol, and why is it important?
• When was the last time you had a cholesterol test?
Finally, the researchers had independent Team up with your health care team to manage cholesterol.
raters code each post -- real and pretend • How can I manage my cholesterol?
• What do my cholesterol screening numbers mean?
-- for its emotional tone. • Are cholesterol-lowering medicines right for me or my family members?
• What are statins?
Overall, the study found, posts from For more information about high cholesterol and resources to help prevent and
the dying patients were more positive manage it, visit cdc.gov/cholesterol.
than those from people who imagined
death was looming. And over time, the
real posts became more positive, as the
