内容摘要：Publisher Lori Perkins, 65, was working 12 to 16 hours daily when a cancer diagnosis halted her routine. During chemotherapy, she could only muster up enough energy to put in four hours a day, and even then felt like she was working “in a vat of molasses.”

Publisher Lori Perkins, 65, was working 12 to 16 hours daily when a cancer diagnosis halted her routine. During chemotherapy, she could only muster up enough energy to put in four hours a day, and even then felt like she was working “in a vat of molasses.”

She now caps her work as owner of Riverdale Avenue Books at about 50 hours per week, and as a result can’t review as many manuscripts. Instead of sending rejection letters, she tells authors to come back in three to six months when it’s less hectic.She practices saying “no” in her head and in her journal, where she also chronicles what happened after she said it. She’s gained time to visit museums, friends and the theater.

“No changed my life,” Perkins said. “I am a different person than I was before I really learned to embrace no.”Have you overcome an obstacle or made a profound change in your work? Send your questions and story ideas to. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at

WASHINGTON (AP) — A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one – shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains.A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of

over the next seven years by 20%.

The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about howIt’s not clear exactly how Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia form. But certain viruses that sneak inside the nervous system – especially members of the herpes family including the chickenpox virus -- have long been suspected of adding to genetic and other factors that make people more vulnerable.

, doctors at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported that an episode of shingles could raise someone’s risk of dementia by about 20%.Partly, it’s because that virus can cause inflammation, bad for organs including the brain. It also can directly infect blood vessels in the brain, causing clots and impeding blood flow, said Colorado’s Nagel, a risk both for strokes and for dementia.

More intriguing, her lab also discovered shingles can spur formation of a sticky protein called amyloid that’s one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.Adults who get recommended vaccines tend to have other brain-healthy habits including exercising and a good diet, which made it hard to prove an extra benefit.