It's hard to say what inspires less enthusiasm – pap smears for women or prostate exams for men.

But it seems that women are better about getting their tests regularly. Men are 25 percent less likely than women to have visited the doctor within the past year, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That increases the chance that illnesses are going untreated. Men are 1.5 times more likely than women to die from heart disease and cancer.

To raise awareness about check-ups, the federal healthcare agency has teamed up with The Advertising Council on an ad campaign targeted at middle-aged men, who face increasing risks of prostate and colorectal cancer. Coming to a television set near you is the "Real Men Wear Gowns" commercial.

The ad appears to appeal to men's sense of responsibility to their families. Stay healthy and you can watch your kid take his first bike ride. Get tested and walk your daughter down the aisle.

A different kind of ad for over-40 males. Who else wants "Viva Viagra" to stop running through their heads?

Americans, on a whole, are living longer than ever. But in a few parts of the country, including Washington County, life expectancy is falling.

A new study published in the online journal PLoS found that women in Washington County experienced a "significant decline" in longevity.

Check out the map in the lower right. Red denotes the biggest declines in longevity, followed by orange, then white – "no change" – then yellow, light green and dark green.

PLos

Gain in life expectancy is strongly linked to county income, putting Washington County, which has the state's lowest median income, at a disadvantage.

Other counties that saw declines were in the Rocky Mountain area and the Four Corners region (where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet).

The drop in female life expectancy after 1983 was caused by a conditions such as lung cancer, diabetes and COPD, according to the research done by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington.

They say you get more comfortable in your skin as you age. That seems to be backed up by a study in this month’s American Sociological Review that found the older Americans get, the happier they are.

With age, comes the loss of friends and spouses, along with declining health. But a University of Chicago researcher, using data spanning more than 30 years, found that the insight and self-esteem that older people have gained serve as more than a counterweight to aging problems – what's known as the "age as maturity hypothesis."

Another UChicago study found that seniors keep up their spirits by getting more involved with the community through things like volunteering and doing more socializing with neighbors.

My vision is pretty poor, but I've always been able to say hey, I've got great hearing.

At least I've been able to until the last year or so. Lately, I've had to crank up the volume on my headset at work, and ask folks to repeat themselves on the cell phone.

Maybe it's the technology, not me. Still, I tried taking a test from the Better Hearing Institute just to see.

I got far from a perfect score – but don't need treatment at this time, according to the test.

See how you fare. Aging is a major risk factor, but contrary to conventional wisdom, most people with hearing loss are under 65, according to the hearing institute. In fact, only 35 percent of people with hearing loss are seniors.

What can damage your ears? Certain recreational things like listening to loud music and constant noise on the job. Those most at risk include firefighters, police officers, factory workers, construction workers and musicians.

Signs of hearing loss include having a hard time making out the high-pitched tones, like the voices of women and children, and turning up the tv way louder than anyone else wants.

Working the night shift can have its perks: often higher pay, reverse commutes and bosses asleep in bed.

Now the bad - and there is a lot, according to growing number of studies: a higher risk of disease and greater vulnerability to sleep disturbances and absenteeism.

Last year, a report commissioned by the World Health Organization found that shift work was a possible carcinogen.

As a night owl myself, I'm thinking, "This is not good."

But it makes sense. All of our bodies have a 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, known as the circadian rhythm, that regulates things like our temperature and how our organs function. Night shifts, jet lag and staying up all night for, say, a Law & Order marathon, disrupts our biological clocks.

Besides that, our bodies do a lot of things at night like make melatonin, a hormone with antioxidant properties. But melatonin needs to be produced in the dark, which presents a problem for people who work through the night, and don't make up the sleep during the day.

There are ways to minimize the negative impact of shift work. Research in this month's American Journal of Preventive Medicine recommends that workers avoid being on the night shift all the time. A better situation would have the worker on nights for several days before rotating to afternoons.

On a "lighter" note, here's the Commodores singing about the night shift I think, metaphorically - but still, what a tune.

Trying to cut down on grocery costs? There are ways to save at the checkout counter without having to pull out a fistful of coupons.

Some tips I've heard before include "Don't go shopping on an empty stomach" and "Don't buy things you normally wouldn't just because they're on sale."

I'm going to add to the list these thinking-outside-the box ideas from the American Diabetes Association:

• Buy boneless cuts. That way you're not paying for the bone, which adds a lot to the weight of meat.
• Pick white eggs over brown eggs, which are pricier but aren't any more nutritious. They're only brown because of the color of the hens that lay them.
• Avoid buying buying small containers of yogurt. Instead, get a quart and separate it into servings yourself.
• Use nonfat dry milk for drinking, cooking and baking. It's cheaper than fresh milk and doesn't expire
•Make your own cooking spray by pouring some cooking oil into a spray bottle (This one gave me pause, but I won't knock it until I try it.)

Have tips? Share here.

Maybe the loons don't speak to you – or the lobsters – but fighting breast cancer does.

You can express that with a new specialty plate coming out in October.

At least 2,000 people have already signed up to get a "pink ribbon" plate.

Meredith Strang Burgess, a GOP representative from Cumberland had to get that many people to place orders before she could present a bill creating the plate to the Legislature.

Each plate costs $20, with annual renewals costing $15.

With each plate, $10 will go to the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition’s Support Services Fund, the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund and the Maine Breast Cancer and Cervical Health Program’s Mammogram Fund. Another $10 will be donated for each annual renewal.

You may have seen these plates in your travels through other states like Arizona, Kansas and Ohio. Over in Massachusetts, more than 3,000 people have signed up for this: