The other night I was watching the health segment on the news and they talked about this new finding:
Done by researchers at New York's Brooklyn College, a study found that elderly women who watch daytime soap operas and talk shows are more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment than women who don't watch them.
However, the investigators say it's not clear if watching these TV shows leads to weaker brainpower, or vice-versa.
The researchers asked the women about their favorite types of TV shows, offering a list of 14 options including news, soap operas, comedies and game shows, among others.
The women also took tests for memory, decision-making abilities and other cognitive skills.
Of the 289 older women without dementia who were studied, those who rated talk shows and soaps as their favorite programs performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and mental quickness than their peers who cited other types of shows.
They were also at greater risk of showing signs of clinical impairment. Those who favored soaps were more than seven times more likely to show signs of impairment on one of the tests, while talk show fans were more than 13 times more likely to show impairment.
Fogel said he doesn't know whether the programs somehow contribute to cognitive decline or whether women in the early stages of decline gravitate toward those shows.
I have been watching The Young and the Restless for the better part of 25 years. At work, our break-times revolve around The Y&R. It is a welcomed distraction from the stress of the job, and there are tons of nurses who watch this show. I can tell you every story line that has happened in Genoa City. The number of times Nicky and Victor have been married. The first time, he saved her from a life of pole-dancing. When Katherine Chancellor had her first face-lift LIVE on TV. Who's banged who, and why they had an affair. Who all the secret love-children are. Who has 'died' but is really not 'dead' so they can be written back into a new story. Who is in 'jail' or 'The Witness Protection Programme' so they can also come back on the show. I watched the show when Brad was just the Pool Boy...and now he is one of the Head Honchos at Jabot Cosmetics, who has been married to both Abbott sisters. And Ashley, who stole Victor's sperm and turkey-basted it into herself and then passed Abby off as Brad's child, but then Ashley was dying from cancer and left a video telling her who her 'real' daddy was, and it fell into the wrong hands, and then Ashley miraculously survived the cancer, and now Brad and Ashley are getting divorced. But then Brad got engaged to Victor's daughter, Victoria. And Olivia, the blabbermouth physician who told Ashley's big secret...well, she is just the Jack-of-all-trades physican, neurosurgeon, cancer specialist, trauma surgeon, fertility specialist. I wonder where she got her training? Apparently, she doesn't know CPR because she let a 14 yr old die last summer: bleep, bleep, bleep, bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Oh, I could go on and on. But I better not...because then you might start to believe that the study is actually TRUE and that I am well on my way to being diagnosed with Soap Opera Dementia (SOD!)
I have to say that I was a bit offended when I heard this report.
I'm not going to watch the Health Report on the news. Anymore.
So there! ;)
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