Stress has numerous detrimental effects on the human body. Many of these effects are acutely felt by the sufferer, but many more go 'unseen', one of which is shortening of telomere length. Telomeres are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes and are indicators of aging, as they naturally shorten over time...

Can I purchase an apartment building as an investment with the money I have in my IRA? -- Bernie Sauer, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

Declining membership trend continues; 2010 giving to UMCOR up 146 percent and direct giving to causes jumps 29 percent.

United Methodist board wants to shed light on the world’s top killer by asking people to abstain from alcohol during Lent.

More than one in four elderly patients was given potentially hazardous medication during 2007. That is the conclusion of a study by Ute Amann and her co-authors in the current issue of the Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109[5]: 69-75)...

At age 60, Kathy Frederick routinely put in 50 hours a week as a hospital administrator for Scripps Health Systems in San Diego. She managed a 15-person staff, and regularly took work home on week-ends -- until one day five years ago she decided enough was enough. "I wasn't ready to retire," says Frederick, "but after 18 years at that pace, I wanted a different challenge and more time for myself."

Walter Kimbrough writes that United Methodists can see the social principles in action when they support the Black College Fund.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potent regulator of sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. The new findings may help scientists find better treatments for type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems caused by the body's inability to properly regulate blood sugar...

National plans for ethnic/racial ministries are growing churches and planting new ones. They should be part of any new structure, groups say.

Chaplains get constant opportunity to serve outside their church walls.

Often targeted by budget cuts, health-care chaplains are shown to improve patient experience.

I'm 38 and just rolled $120,000 into an IRA. I'm trying to decide whether I should invest it on my own or pay an investment firm a fee to do it for me. I'm inexperienced, so I really don't even know what information I should factor into this decision. Any suggestions? -- Trevor S.

Everyone has moments when they feel more in control of their lives than at other times. New research from North Carolina State University shows that this sense of control fluctuates more often, and more quickly, than previously thought - and that this sense of control may actively affect cognitive abilities...

A large, prospective study led by a researcher at Rush University Medical Center indicates that chronic exposure to particulate air pollution may accelerate cognitive decline in older adults. The results of the study were published in the Feb. 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals...

Cognitive loss and brain degeneration currently affect millions of adults, and the number will increase, given the population of aging baby boomers. Today, nearly 20 percent of people age 65 or older suffer from mild cognitive impairment and 10 percent have dementia...

The Rev. Connie Shelton speaks on living a fuller Christian life through authenticity, song.

As the proportion of senior citizens grows, their special needs are gaining momentum. Human eyesight, for example, weakens with age. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has been developing new NFC-based applications that make life easier for the visually impaired...

A new study suggests that overeating in older people may double their risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a term that describes the stage between the memory loss that normally comes with aging and that seen in early Alzheimer's disease...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that post-operative radiation therapy (PORT), a controversial yet frequently administered treatment for lung cancer, may not prolong life in older people with locally advanced disease. The findings appear in the February 13 online edition of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society...