Finding Geriatric Doctors for Seniors

10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small

❝[Can you write about] the availability of geriatric doctors Sometimes I feel my primary isn’t really up on my 70 year old health issues. I would love to find a doctor that understands my issues and is able to explain them to me. Ie; my worsening arthritis in regards to food I eat; in regards to meds vs homeopathic solutions.! Thanks!❞

That’s a great topic, worthy of a main feature! Because in many cases, it’s not just about specialization of skills, but also about empathy, and the gap between studying a condition and living with a condition.

About arthritis, we’re going to do a main feature specifically on that quite soon, but meanwhile, you might like our previous article:

Keep Inflammation At Bay (arthritis being an inflammatory condition)

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese (Or Are They?)
  • Fasting Without Crashing?
    Intermittent fasting (IF) is a time-restricted fasting method that can promote weight loss, fat loss, and metabolic benefits for general health. However, its effectiveness and sustainability vary depending on the specific protocol followed.

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Human Connection In An All-Too-Busy World

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Many of us, in many ways, have more discretionary time than ever… On paper.

    But rather than the 8-hour block of work of yesteryear, nowadays the things that take our time often come in a series of short bursts that punctuate our day.

    This means that while in theory, we have n hours of “free” time per day, we actually have 9 minutes here, 23 minutes there, 1 hour 6 minutes somewhere else, and so on.

    Social commitments, meanwhile, tend to require not only that we have time in a block, but also, that the time around that block also be sufficiently free, for travelling, preparation, etc.

    The result? “We must do this again, and not leave it so long next time!” we say, sincerely, to the friend whom we will next see again in approximately 17 months’ time.

    The problem is how our many theoretically-small obligations reduce the rest of our time to “time confetti”, and that happens on the large scale like we saw above, as well as on the small scale of “Ah, I have an hour to relax between these two things” and then suddenly the time is gone, once again reduced to time confetti:

    Time Confetti and the Broken Promise of Leisure

    So, how to maintain human connection with people beyond those with whom we live?

    Some is infinitely better than none

    Let’s say you want to call a friend or relative. There may be generational differences in how much one is expected to arrange this by text first, vs just calling, but either way, you don’t have to have an open-ended block of time, and sometimes, it’s better if you don’t.

    Establish, at the start of the call, “Before we get into catching up, how are we for time, by the way? For my part, I’ll have to go by such-and-such a time”, and then work with that.

    The benefit of doing this is that you’ll both know enough about the time constraints to use the time appropriately; you won’t run out the clock on smalltalk before getting to something big, and you’ll both come away feeling satisfied that you shared and were shared-with in a meaningful fashion.

    In contrast, guessing at time constraints can leave big things clipped off, or else result in someone “looking for a way to politely end this conversation that stopped being interesting a while ago but it’ll seem rude if I say I have to go now”, of the kind that results in someone not being so open to a call next time.

    Don’t rush to dismiss texts as a medium for meaningful connection

    When text messages were first a thing, you’ll remember how we were all working within a very short character limit and a cost-per-message. It was telegrams for the modern age, basically.

    Nowadays, that isn’t so; we can write as much or as little as we like, and this has two benefits:

    1. We can have longer, meaningful conversations around the other stuff in our life. We can reply in seconds, or after making a cup of tea and thinking about it, or after our grocery-chopping trip, or whenever suits us. Suddenly, time confetti isn’t such a barrier to human connection. Writer’s example: my prime social time in this manner is when I’m cooking dinner (which is often about an hour). There’s no way I could have a phonecall while doing that; my bad hearing notwithstanding, I just have my hands full too often with much else going on. But texting? I can do that in the several-minute gaps between assorted culinary tasks, while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil or the onions to brown or whatever.
    2. Sometimes, the brevity makes it easier. A quick text saying “Hey, just to let you know I’m thinking of you, and hope your day is going well!”, or “Unrelated to anything: I was just thinking about how I’m glad to have you in my life; you’re a good friend, and I appreciate that more than I often remember to say. Anyway, that’s all; it was just on my mind. I hope your day is going well!”

    (The cheery closing words in those last two text message examples help signify: “don’t worry, I’m fine and am not looking for anything from you”, which will help the recipient to relax, and counterintuitively, more likely to reply with some kind words of their own, knowing that they’re not signing up for a potentially deep talk when they also have time confetti issues going on)

    Seize the moment (and also let it go)

    You probably have many small interactions with strangers, most days. In the store, walking the dog, at the doctor’s office, etc. So, two things:

    1. Make smalltalk. And if you’re not one for traditional smalltalk topics (weather etc), or even if you are, a level-up is:
    2. Compliment sincerely. Straight out of “How To Win Friends And Influence People”, of course, but it creates a moment of genuine connection; you say a thing, their day is improved, they smile, you complete your business with a smile of your own and go about your day.

    (of course, do steer clear of anything that could be interpreted as flirting, if that is not your intent, and really it should never be your intent when it comes to the captive audience of someone who will get fired if they’re not nice to you)

    But, with a little practice, these little moments add up to a lot more human connection than if we treat the strangers with whom we interact as though they were merely part of the scenery.

    Want more than that?

    Check out:

    How To Beat Loneliness & Isolation

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • Which Magnesium? (And: When?)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

    In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    ❝Good morning! I have been waiting for this day to ask: the magnesium in my calcium supplement is neither of the two versions you mentioned in a recent email newsletter. Is this a good type of magnesium and is it efficiently bioavailable in this composition? I also take magnesium that says it is elemental (oxide, gluconate, and lactate). Are these absorbable and useful in these sources? I am not interested in taking things if they aren’t helping me or making me healthier. Thank you for your wonderful, informative newsletter. It’s so nice to get non-biased information❞

    Thank you for the kind words! We certainly do our best.

    For reference: the attached image showed a supplement containing “Magnesium (as Magnesium Oxide & AlgaeCal® l.superpositum)”

    Also for reference: the two versions we compared head-to-head were these very good options:

    Magnesium Glycinate vs Magnesium Citrate – Which is Healthier?

    Let’s first borrow from the above, where we mentioned: magnesium oxide is probably the most widely-sold magnesium supplement because it’s cheapest to make. It also has woeful bioavailability, to the point that there seems to be negligible benefit to taking it. So we don’t recommend that.

    As for magnesium gluconate and magnesium lactate:

    • Magnesium lactate has very good bioavailability and in cases where people have problems with other types (e.g. gastrointestinal side effects), this will probably not trigger those.
    • Magnesium gluconate has excellent bioavailability, probably coming second only to magnesium glycinate.

    The “AlgaeCal® l.superpositum” supplement is a little opaque (and we did ntoice they didn’t specify what percentage of the magnesium is magnesium oxide, and what percentage is from the algae, meaning it could be a 99:1 ratio split, just so that they can claim it’s in there), but we can say Lithothamnion superpositum is indeed an algae and magnesium from green things is usually good.

    Except…

    It’s generally best not to take magnesium and calcium together (as that supplement contains). While they do work synergistically once absorbed, they compete for absorption first so it’s best to take them separately. Because of magnesium’s sleep-improving qualities, many people take calcium in the morning, and magnesium in the evening, for this reason.

    Some previous articles you might enjoy meanwhile:

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • Language Fluency Beats General Intelligence & Memory For Longevity

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    And no, it doesn’t have to be a second language, although that helps a lot:

    An Underrated Tool Against Alzheimer’s ← you don’t even have to learn the second language to a high level, to benefit

    Rather, what we’re talking about today is your first language fluency. So, for most of our readers, English. For the study participants it was German, because this was a German research team using data from the German population.

    The Berlin Aging Study

    Previous research has linked intelligence to longevity, but intelligence comprises multiple traits. So, what’s most important? Memory? General intelligence? Nope. Language fluency!

    Let’s clarify something before we continue: “fluency” does not, in linguistics, mean what most people use it to mean. It’s not about the size of one’s overall knowledge of the language (e.g. vocabulary size), but rather, it is about one’s ability to speak and/or write fluently—literally, fluently means “flowingly”, i.e. without undue hesitation or difficulty.

    The study used data from the Berlin Aging Study, which tracked 516 people aged 70–105 from 1989 onwards.

    Researchers assessed four cognitive abilities, with two kinds of tests for each of:

    • Verbal fluency (detailed description below)
    • Perceptual speed (pattern-recognition speed)
    • Verbal knowledge (vocabulary size)
    • Episodic memory (personal memory recall)

    General intelligence, meanwhile, was assessed as “the average of those 8 scores”.

    The two tests for the cognitive ability of “verbal fluency” were:

    Categories

    Participants had to name as many different animals as possible within 90 seconds. Their answers were subsequently rated for correctness by two independent research assistants, to assure that noticed or unnoticed repetitions, wrong categories, and morphological variants were not coded as correct.

    Word beginnings

    Participants were asked to name as many different real words starting with the letter s as possible within 90 seconds. The named words were rated for correctness by two independent research assistants to avoid considering repetitions, morphological variants, and wrong words as correct.

    You can read about these and the other tests for the other cognitive abilities, in the paper itself:

    Verbal Fluency Selectively Predicts Survival in Old and Very Old Age ← if you’re looking for the test descriptions, scroll to “Method” and then scroll past the table, and you’ll see the test descriptions

    They found that of all these metrics, only the two verbal fluency tests (and none of the other tests) showed a significant link to longevity.

    Why this is important

    Although the study does not prove causality (it could be that people who are predisposed to live longer for other reasons are more verbally fluent because of some common factor that influences both language fluency and longevity), it seems as good a reason as any to develop and maintain language fluency.

    This builds on what was found in “The Nun Study“, that followed a convent of nuns (because they are a very homogenous sample in terms of occupation, location, diet, routine, etc, so a lot of confounding factors were already controlled-for) and made numerous major discoveries about things that impact aging (including the relevance of the APOE4 gene! That was The Nun Study).

    When it came to nuns and language…

    Based on the autobiographies written by the nuns in their youth upon taking their vows, there were two factors that were later correlated with not getting dementia:

    • Longer sentences
    • Positive outlook
    • “Idea density”

    That latter item means the relative linguistic density of ideas and complexity thereof, and the fluency and vivacity with which they were expressed (this was not a wishy-washy assessment; there was a hard-science analysis to determine numbers).

    Want to spruce up yours? You might like to check out:

    Reading, Better: Reading As A Cognitive Exercise

    …for specific, evidence-based ways to tweak your reading to fight cognitive decline.

    Take care!

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese (Or Are They?)
  • How extreme heat can affect you—and how you can protect yourself

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Because of climate change, last summer was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in 2,000 years—and this summer is expected to be even hotter. The record may continue to be broken: Extreme heat is expected to become even more frequent.

    The scorching heat has led to an increase in heat-related deaths in the United States, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, with approximately 2,300 deaths in the summer of 2023. Extreme heat, defined as a period of two to three days with high heat and humidity with temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, can have serious health consequences, including symptoms like headache, dizziness, loss of consciousness, nausea, and confusion. 

    As we face more extreme heat, you may be wondering how you can protect yourself and your loved ones. Read on to learn about heat-related illness, who’s most at risk, and more.

    What happens when our bodies are exposed to extreme heat?

    As our body temperature rises, our bodies attempt to cool down by opening up more blood vessels near the skin to begin sweating. The evaporation of our sweat regulates our body temperature, but it also leads to losing fluids and minerals. 

    When it’s too humid, sweating alone doesn’t do the trick. The heart must work harder to bring blood around the body. It starts beating faster, which can cause light-headedness, nausea, and headache.

    This process can affect our health in different ways, including increasing our risk of hospitalization for heart disease, worsening asthma, and injuring kidneys due to dehydration. It can also result in heat-related illness. Below are some effects of heat on our bodies: 

    • Heat cramps: Occur when a person loses salt through sweating, which causes painful cramps. Symptoms begin as painful spasms after heavy sweating, usually in the legs or the stomach. Heat cramps can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. 
    • Heat exhaustion: This occurs when the body loses an excessive amount of water and salt, usually during intense physical activity. Symptoms include irritability, heavy sweating, and weakness, including muscle cramps. Heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke. 
    • Heat stroke: This is the most severe heat-related illness. It happens when the body can’t cool down and reaches a temperature of 106 Fahrenheit or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. If the person doesn’t receive emergency treatment, it can cause permanent disability or death. Symptoms include confusion, loss of consciousness, and seizures. 

    What should I do if someone experiences a heat-related illness?

    If you or someone you’re with begins to show signs of heat illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following: 

    • Heat cramps: Stop all physical activity, drink water or a sports drink, move to a cool place, and wait for cramps to go away before resuming activity. If the cramps last more than an hour, you’re on a low-sodium diet, or you have heart problems, get medical help. 
    • Heat exhaustion: Move the person to a cool place, loosen their clothes, use a cool bath or cloths to try to lower their body temperature, and give them a sip of water. If the person throws up, or if their symptoms last longer than an hour or worsen, get medical help. 
    • Heat stroke: Call 911 immediately. Then, move the person to a cooler place, use cool cloths or a cool bath to help lower their temperature, and don’t give them anything to drink. 

    Read more about heat-related illness and what to do in each case.

    Who’s more vulnerable to extreme heat? 

    While everyone can be affected by extreme heat, some people are more at risk, including people of color.

    A 2023 KFF report outlined that because of historical residential segregation in the U.S. (known as “redlining”), people of color are more likely to live in areas that experience higher temperatures from rooftops, asphalt, and sidewalks that retain the sun’s heat (known as the “urban heat island effect”). Additionally, communities of color are more likely to live in areas with fewer trees, which act as a canopy and provide shade, making the heat worse and more direct.  

    Children under 5, adults 65 or over, and pregnant people are also more vulnerable to extreme heat. If you have a chronic health condition like diabetes, heart problems, or a mental health condition, you’re also at higher risk. (Some psychiatric medications, like antidepressants, can also make people more susceptible to heat). 

    Lastly, anyone exposed to the sun and extreme heat for long periods is also at higher risk. This includes athletes, people who work outdoors, and unhoused people. 

    What can I do to prevent heat-related illness during a heat wave?

    During a heat wave, follow these tips to stay cool and protect yourself from heat-related illness: 

    • Never leave your pets or children inside a car
    • Wear loose, light-colored clothing (dark colors absorb more heat).
    • Find shade if you’re outside.
    • If you don’t have air conditioning in your home, go to a place where you can cool down, such as a local library, community center, local pool or splash pad, or mall. Check to see if your city has designated cooling centers. (Cities like New York have a list of places.) 
    • Wear a hat.
    • Drink (non-alcoholic) fluids often to stay hydrated—and if you have pets, give them water frequently as well.
    • Check on your family members or older neighbors who may be more sensitive to extreme heat.
    • Avoid using your stove or oven too often or during the hottest parts of the day.
    • Cover your windows with shades to keep the heat out.

    What are some resources to prevent heat-related illness? 

    If you need financial assistance to cool down your home, such as to purchase an air conditioner, apply to the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

    Before you head outside during a heat wave, use the CDC’s HeatRisk tool: Enter your zip code to find the current heat risk in your area and get tips on what to do to stay safe with each risk level.

    During a heat wave, also look for a cooling center in your state using the National Center for Healthy Housing’s list

    Check out the National Weather Service’s for more tips and resources.

    For more information, talk to your health care provider.

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • A Fresh Take On Hypothyroidism

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The Three Rs To Boost Thyroid-Related Energy Levels

    This is Dr. Izabella Wentz. She’s a doctor of pharmacology, and after her own diagnosis with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, she has taken it up as her personal goal to educate others on managing hypothyroidism.

    Dr. Wentz is also trained in functional medicine through The Institute for Functional Medicine, Kalish Functional Medicine, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and holds certifications in Medication Therapy Management as well as Advanced Diabetes Care through the American Pharmacists Association. In 2013, she received the Excellence in Innovation Award from the Illinois Pharmacists Association.

    Dr. Wentz’s mission

    Dr. Wentz was disenchanted by the general medical response to hypothyroidism in three main ways. She tells us:

    • Thyroid patients are not diagnosed appropriately.
      • For this, she criticises over-reliance on TSH tests that aren’t a reliable marker of thyroid function, especially if you have Hashimoto’s.
    • Patients should be better optimized on their medications.
      • For this, she criticizes many prescribed drugs that are actually pro-drugs*, that don’t get converted adequately if you have an underactive thyroid.
    • Lifestyle interventions are often ignored by mainstream medicine.
      • Medicines are great; they truly are. But medicating without adjusting lifestyle can be like painting over the cracks in a crumbling building.

    *a “pro-drug” is what it’s called when the drug we take is not the actual drug the body needs, but is a precursor that will get converted to that actual drug we need, inside our body—usually by the liver, but not always. An example in this case is T4, which by definition is a pro-drug and won’t always get correctly converted to the T3 that a thyroid patient needs.

    Well that does indeed sound worthy of criticism. But what does she advise instead?

    First, she recommends a different diagnostic tool

    Instead of (or at least, in addition to) TSH tests, she advises to ask for TPO tests (thyroid peroxidase), and a test for Tg antibodies (thyroglobulin). She says these are elevated for many years before a change in TSH is seen.

    Next, identify the root cause and triggers

    These can differ from person to person, but in countries that add iodine to salt, that’s often a big factor. And while gluten may or may not be a factor, there’s a strong correlation between celiac disease and Hashimoto’s disease, so it is worth checking too. Same goes for lactose.

    By “checking”, here we mean testing eliminating it and seeing whether it makes a difference to energy levels—this can be slow, though, so give it time! It is best to do this under the guidance of a specialist if you can, of course.

    Next, get to work on repairing your insides.

    Remember we said “this can be slow”? It’s because your insides won’t necessarily bounce back immediately from whatever they’ve been suffering from for what’s likely many years. But, better late than never, and the time will pass anyway, so might as well get going on it.

    For this, she recommends a gut-healthy diet with specific dietary interventions for hypothyroidism. Rather than repeat ourselves unduly here, we’ll link to a couple of previous articles of ours, as her recommendations match these:

    She also recommends regular blood testing to see if you need supplementary TSH, TPO antibodies, and T3 and T4 hormones—as well as vitamin B12.

    Short version

    After diagnosis, she recommends the three Rs:

    • Remove the causes and triggers of your hypothyroidism, so far as possible
    • Repair the damage caused to your body, especially your gut
    • Replace the thyroid hormones and related things in which your body has become deficient

    Learn more

    If you’d like to learn more about this, she offers a resource page, with resources ranging from on-screen information, to books you can get, to links to hook you up with blood tests if you need them, as well as recommended supplements to consider.

    She also has a blog, which has an interesting relevant article added weekly.

    Enjoy, and take care of yourself!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Body Language (In The Real World)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Forget What You Think You Know About Body Language

    …unless it’s about a specific person whose habits and mannerisms you know intimately, in which case, you probably have enough personal data stored up to actually recognize patterns à la “when my spouse does this, then…”, and probably do know what’s going on.

    For everyone else… our body language can be as unique as our idiolect

    What’s an idiolect? It’s any one given person’s way of speaking/writing, in their natural state (i.e. without having to adjust their style for some reason, for example in a public-facing role at work, where style often becomes much narrower and more consciously-chosen).

    Extreme example first

    To give an extreme example of how non-verbal communication can be very different than a person thinks, there’s an anecdote floating around the web of someone whose non-verbal autistic kid would, when he liked someone who was visiting the house, hide their shoes when they were about to leave, to cause them to stay longer. Then one day some relative visited and when she suggested that she “should be going sometime soon”, he hurried to bring her her shoes. She left, happy that the kid liked her (he did not).

    The above misunderstanding happened because the visitor had the previous life experience of “a person who brings me things is being helpful, and if they do it of their own free will, it’s because they like me”.

    In other words…

    Generalizations are often sound… In general

    …which does not help us when dealing with individuals, which as it turns out, everyone is.

    Clenched fists = tense and angry… Except when it’s just what’s comfortable for someone, or they have circulation issues, or this, or that, or the other.

    Pacing = agitated… Except when it’s just someone who finds the body in motion more comfortable

    Relaxed arms and hands = at ease and unthreatening… Unless it’s a practitioner of various martial arts for whom that is their default ready-for-action state.

    Folded arms = closed-off, cold, distant… Or it was just somewhere to put one’s hands.

    Lack of eye contact = deceitful, hiding something… Unless it’s actually for any one of a wide number of reasons, which brings us to our next section:

    A liar’s “tells”

    Again, if you know someone intimately and know what signs are associated with deceit in them, then great, that’s a thing you know. But for people in general…

    A lot of what is repeated about “how to know if someone is lying” has seeped into public consciousness from “what police use to justify their belief that someone is lying”.

    This is why many of the traditional “this person is lying” signs are based around behaviors that show up when in fact “this person is afraid, under pressure, and talking to an authority figure who has the power to ruin their life”:

    Research on Non-verbal Signs of Lies and Deceit: A Blind Alley

    But what about eye-accessing cues? They have science to them, right?

    For any unfamiliar: this is about the theory that when we are accessing different parts of our mind (such as memory or creativity, thus truthfulness or lying), our eyes move one way or another according to what faculty we’re accessing.

    Does it work? No

    But, if you carefully calibrate it for a specific person, such as by asking them questions along the lines of “describe your front door” or “describe your ideal holiday”, to see which ways they look for recall or creativity… Then also no:

    The Eyes Don’t Have It: Lie Detection and Neuro-Linguistic Programming

    How can we know what non-verbal communication means, then?

    With strangers? We can’t, simply. It’s on us to be open-minded, with a healthy balance of optimism and wariness.

    With people we know? We can build up a picture over time, learn the person’s patterns. Best of all, we can ask them. In the moment, and in general.

    For more on optimizing interpersonal communication, check out:

    Save Time With Better Communication

    …and the flipside of that:

    The Problem With Active Listening (And How To Do It Better)

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: