MSI Press Blog

  Bloating is one of the body’s most common complaints — and one of its most misunderstood. It can feel alarming, especially when it’s persistent. But most bloating has nothing to do with cancer. It’s the body’s way of saying something simpler: I’m irritated, I’m full, or I’m adjusting. Here are the non‑cancer causes of bloating that doctors see every day: Digestive sensitivity Gas from beans, onions, carbonated drinks, or high‑fiber foods. Temporary distention that eases after passing gas or a bowel movement. Hormonal changes Menstrual cycles, perimenopause, or hormone therapy can cause fluid retention. Bloating fluctuates with timing — not constant day after day. Food intolerances Lactose, gluten, or fructose malabsorption can trigger bloating after meals. Patterns link clearly to specific foods. Constipation Stool buildup stretches the intestines. Relief comes after regular bowel movements resume. Swallowed air Eating quickly, chewing gum, or drinking through straws introduces ...

  Today's publisher's pride is You're Not Too Old, and It's Not Too La te by Ilene Berns-Zare, which reached #95  in midlife self-help. Book Description Designed as an accessible 52-week companion, this inspiring guide invites Baby Boomers and Gen Xers to reimagine aging with confidence, vitality, and purpose. Drawing on research-informed tools and practical reflections, it encourages readers to tap into inner strengths, embrace meaningful shifts, and discover everyday “ah-ha” moments that spark renewal. Whether you seek greater wellbeing, deeper meaning, or renewed fulfillment from midlife through older adulthood, this uplifting resource reminds us that aging well is an active journey—and that the best chapters may still lie ahead. Keywords: midlife transformation; aging with purpose; positive aging book; Baby Boomer wellness; Gen X wellbeing; 52‑week self‑growth guide; midlife reinvention; aging well strategies; vitality after 50; personal growth after 50; midlife mi...

Quebec On our way back home to Pittsburgh from Maine on one visit when the kids were little, we came pretty close to South Hero Island in Vermont. (That story will be told in another volume because there was a story that took place on South Hero Island.) Once on that island, we were intrigued by the chain of islands in Lake Champlain that separated Vermont from New York. The islands felt almost like stepping‑stones laid across the lake—long, low stretches of farmland and shoreline, connected by narrow causeways that skimmed just above the water. Each island had its own quiet personality: a cluster of houses here, a field of grazing cows there, a glimpse of blue water widening on both sides. It was the kind of landscape that pulls you forward without your noticing, island after island, as though the lake itself were guiding you north. That chain, island after island, pulled us straight up to Canada. Once again, we were in Canada, unplanned. The crossing itself was so undramatic that we ...

  When Doah was in elementary school, he had a wonderful teacher, or so we thought. She disappeared near the end of the year, however. We learned she had moved to another state. How we learned it was a shock. Why she moved to another state was a shock. The same shock. The principal called together the parents of the kids in that teacher's special education class. He told us that there had been allegations of sexual abuse of one or more of the children by the teacher. Modest abuse: voyeurism, but abuse nonetheless. She had fled out of state to avoid prosecution, it seemed.  Doah never said anything to us. We never knew who figured it out, if it were even true. But we were told that she had told each child that it was a secret. So, since Doah, being linguistically impaired, was definitely open to input, we taught him that the meaning of the word, secret, was "something really important to tell Mom or Dad right away."  He never forgot that definition. Many secrets over the y...