Home remedy for cracked heels

Try this home remedy for baby soft feet: 1 glass of white wine vinegar, 1 glass of mouthwash & 1 litre of tepid water. Soak feet for 15 minutes then gently scrub with a loofah. Repeat every two weeks.

Wine, Chocolate and Tea boost memory

News after my own heart! One more reason to drink a glass of red wine at meal times. And even if the researchers do say that effects level off after half a glass, I think I'll keep to my 'one glass' - you never know what they may find after a few years ... lol! I love my cuppa tea at least 3 or 4 times a day. All I have to do now is start on chocolate. Keeping to just 4 squares is going to be hard!!!

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Researchers from Oxford University's Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics discovered that wine has the most pronounced effect in boosting people's memory, followed by chocolate and tea. And those who regularly consume all three in modest amounts were found to perform best when asked to carry out a series of brain tests. Chocolate, wine and tea are thought to improve cognitive ability because they all contain micronutrients called flavonoids, which research has suggested can lower risks of dementia.

However, those hoping to use the findings as justification for gorging on chocolates and enjoying a generous tipple over Christmas will be disappointed. The study also discovered that the positive effects levelled out after just half a glass of wine and only four squares of chocolate. The researchers warned people not to use the research to binge drink in the hope of improving their memories. They stressed that while moderate alcohol consumption is associated with better cognitive function and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, heavy alcohol intake could be a cause of dementia and other health problems.
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Vegetable gardens in schools help healthier eating

What a very smart idea! Getting children to grow veggies induces them to eat them more happily. Facing the problem of trying to keep my children on a healthy balanced diet ("helloooo? - you know I do not eat any vegetables - I am not a vegetarian!") , I love ideas like these that may perhaps make children want to eat their veggies. And by getting children involved in gardening, their diet may not be the only thing to benefit!

A campaign by the Soil Association, a charity promoting sustainable food, urges schools to grow their own vegetables and use local produce to revive interest in healthy meals. Giving pupils a bigger role in the production of food boosts enthusiasm for healthy meals, it claimed. The charity said there had been a 16 per cent increase in the proportion of children eating school meals in the award-winning schools. Jeanette Orrey, an advisor for the Food for Life Partnership, said: “We campaigned for better school dinners, but it’s not just about school meals anymore, it’s also about practical food education like learning to cook, growing food and visiting farms to learn where food actually comes from.”

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Worm in the brain

Another story emphasising the importance of washing your hands frequently! Supposedly a worm on dirty hands got inside the body of a woman from Arizona. It then travelled up into her brain where it caused her to have numbness in her right arm and blurred vision. On being operated, surgeons found the worm happily lodged in her brain stem.

I spent time time staring at the photo (check the link) but I still can't see the worm. Some one point the worm out to me!

Doctors in Arizona operated on Rosemary Alvarez after she started feeling numbness in her arm and blurred vision. Ms Alvarez went to the emergency room twice and had an x-ray, but everything appeared normal. It was only when doctors took a closer look at a scan that they discovered something very disturbing.

Neurosurgeon Dr Peter Nakaji said: "Once we saw the MRI we realised this is something not good. It's something down in her brain stem which is as deep in the brain as you can be." Ms Alvarez was taken into the operating room where Dr Nakaji and his colleagues were expecting to remove a tumor.

Experts said worms can come from eating undercooked pork or spread by people who do not wash their hands after using the bathroom, according to reports. "It only takes one person who is spreading it constantly to get a lot of people exposed and some of those people are going to go on to develop this problem," Dr Nakaji said. Ms Alvarez, who is now healthy, said she hopes people learn lessons from her story. "Wash your hands, wash your hands," she said.
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Playstation Addiction

After a really long time (the article does not say how long exactly but I am interested in knowing how many hours the kid was playing!) on his Playstation, a youngster seemed to go into a trance-like state and not comprehend or react to his surroundings! he could not speak - it look like he was having a brain seizure. This required a new diagnosis 'Playstation Addiction'. Another problem to add to our growing list of woes.

Lorenzo Amato was rushed to hospital by his father, who feared he was suffering a stroke or brain trauma as the teenager would not respond to his surroundings. At first doctors at Lecce hospital, Southern Italy, thought Lorenzo Amato was suffering from a severe brain disorder. The teenager couldn't speak and didn't seem to understand anything going on around him.

Doctors diagnosed the condition after discovering that Amato had just finished a marathon session on his new PlayStation. Local politician Antonio Buccoliero, who spoke to the doctors, said: "They eventually managed to take care of him once they understood that this was a strange kind of mental detachment connected to his PlayStation."
(Link)

Cloned dogs can sniff out cancer

Researchers believe that cancer cells have a smell different from normal cells. And dogs are able to detect it. This is being researched further. In the meantime cloning in South Korea has produced 4 puppies from a dog that was already sniffing out cancers.

A South Korean biotech firm announced it has successfully cloned four dogs capable of sniffing out human cancers by using tissue from a Labrador retriever in Japan, media reported Wednesday.

RNL Bio, a leader in commercializing cloning in South Korea, said Monday the dogs were born last month and would be sent to Japan for training in the same skills as their mother. Two of them will later be sold to clients at 480,000 U.S. dollars each or more, it said. The puppies were cloned from Marine, a six-and-a-half-year-old dog which is unable to give birth to siblings following an operation to have her womb removed. "Thanks to the cloning technology, it (Marine) has been able to preserve its own genes," said a statement on RNL Bio's website. (Link)

$100 pants help women lose weight without excercise

LipoContour briefs are supposed to take inches off your waist hips thighs without you having to exercise. Italian cosmetic surgeon Professor Marco Gasparotti, the designer of the pants, explains that the thick layers of the pants 'micro massage' you at problem spots. This increases blood circulation which helps break down fat and smooth out cellulite. I am so very tempted!

They are big, ugly and decidedly unsexy, but a pair of large white pants could become this summer's must-have accessory. LipoContour briefs claim to be able to take inches off hips and thighs without the need for a single aerobics class, lunge or star jump.

Makers of the shorts say that over 12 weeks they "refine and lift" the body, and if worn for eight hours a day, could yield permanent results. They were originally meant to be worn by patients recovering from lyposuction procedures.

LipoContour general manager Trisha Juke said the pants worked better if combined with exercise, but they were also "very suited to someone who has an office job and sits down all day. People get obsessed with food when they go on diets. This is a much easier solution," she said. (Link)

'Vertical Birthing' to combat maternal mortality in Peru

Peru promotes "vertical birthing" as a way to combat high rates of maternal mortality in the Andean country. In Peru, at least 185 women die for every 100,000 births. In the US that number stands at about 20.

Edgar Rameriz, UN Population Fund, says: "Andean women are traditionally accustomed to giving birth from the vertical position, whether it's by squatting or from a leaning position, or even through being propped up by their husbands; the health centres have therefore made allowances for all those customs, and so you now see a greater of Andean women taking advantage of our services."

Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

Breast cancer 'wonder drug' wins licence for use in Britain

A breast cancer "wonder drug" that could benefit thousands of women has been licensed for use in Britain. The drug, called Lapatinib, was praised by Jane Tomlinson's husband after the cancer campaigner received it as part of a clinical trial. After her death, Mike Tomlinson called for the drug, to be made widely available to breast cancer sufferers.

Lapatinib could be as successful as Herceptin the gold-standard treatment for breast cancer. It can prolong the lives of women in advanced stages of a type of breast cancer which accounts for around a quarter of all cases. Also known as Tyverb, the drug has received its European licence, making it available on private prescription in Britain. (Link)

Chocolate only diet

Another phobia - fear of food - people suffering this kind of fear just cannot eat anything except what they are used to - I know I'd get this fear if I was asked to eat bugs! This 12 year old schoolgirl eats nothing but chocolate. She is too scared of trying anything else.

Rebecca Scowcroft, from Bolton, eats 15 squares of cooking chocolate and 10 chocolate fingers every morning while her family opt for a more conventional breakfast of toast, eggs and cereal. The schoolgirl, who is in perfectly good health, eats the same for lunch and Rice Krispies for dinner - but only if they are mixed in bowl of melted chocolate.

Rebecca suffers from a condition known as extreme food phobia, which doctors estimate affects at least one child in every school in Britain. After years of trying to change their daughter's eating habits, Rebecca's parents enlisted the help of Dr Gillian Harris, a child psychologist who runs a feeding centre at Birmingham's children's hospital. With the help of Dr Harris, Rebecca has started to expand her diet and now eats small squares of toast for breakfast. (Link)

Children treated for addiction to mobile phones

And here is another addiction. This one has me flabbergasted! I learn something new everyday - some days more than one thing.

Two Spanish children are being treated for addiction to their mobile phones - and experts say it could take up to a year for them to recover. The children, aged 12 and 13, were admitted to a clinic in Lleida, north east Spain, by their parents who discovered they were unable to do anything without their phones. Apparently, the youngsters were spending up to six hours a day on the phones.

A psychiatrist at the clinic explained that the addiction had led to them failing at school and being unable to carry on with normal life. Both children had their phones for 18 months and the parents did not monitor their useage or realise how much money they were spending, according to reports. The children apparently went to different members of the family to get extra cash and even used money intended for school lunches on buying top-ups.

The psychiatrist in charge of the case in Spain says it may take at least a year to get them off their "drug". (Link)

Travel without fear of the runs

How pretty is this bug? And it is one of the major causes of diarrhoea, vomiting and all the associated ills when you are not careful of what you eat when travelling. So now there is this patch that has the same toxins produced by the E.Coli. Kind of primes your immune system so if you do catch the real bug it will not affect you terribly.

Stomach bugs picked up during foreign travel may be prevented by wearing a patch impregnated by toxins produced by the E. coli bacterium. US research published in the Lancet medical journal found the patch was 75% effective against diarrhoea attacks caused by E. coli among volunteers.

Patch-wearers who did fall ill recovered far more quickly, it said. Their patch contains the poisons produced by E.coli, with the idea that this primes the immune system to cope better when confronted with the real thing. (Link)

How are intelligent people different from others?

Well ... apart from the obvious - that the intelligent people are more 'intelligent', researchers have found a few other interesting points. One point I found out about is the gene known as SSADH. The good version of this gene 'detoxifies' the brain so the brain can work better. Cool!

• Clever people live longer! Intelligent people could live up to 15 years longer than their less bright counterparts, according to scientists who have linked a "smart gene" to longevity. Researchers in Italy found those with the less "smart" variant of the gene, which has already been linked to IQ levels by scientists, were unlikely to live beyond 85. But the team at the University of Calabria found that others with a "good" version of the same gene could expect to live to 100. (Link)

• Intelligent people less likely to believe in God: People with higher IQs are less likely to believe in God, according to a new study. Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average. A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed. A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers. A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God. (Link)

Cow urine could help diabetics

Indian scientists say cow urine can reduce blood sugar levels. Scientists at Bangalore Veterinary college say a new study shows that cow's urine may lower blood sugar levels. It could be available as a drug once the side effects have been checked out. At least folks will not be told to drink it! After seeing so many swallowing live fish, I am ready to believe that some people will try anything!

Tessa Unsworth reports.

Emetophobia disrupts wedding plans - bride tries hypnotherapy

Emetophobia is the irrational fear of vomiting, being around others who are vomiting, and/or the vomit itself. It is very debilitating but there is help available like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, hypnotherapy and counselling.

A bride-to-be who suffers from an irrational fear of vomiting has postponed her big day until she finds a cure. Emma Pelling is so terrified of being sick on her wedding dress that she has enrolled with a hypnotherapist in the hope of finding the courage to walk down the aisle. The 19-year-old suffers from "emetophobia", an extreme fear of vomiting, and has put off her wedding to fiance Gareth Heal while she seeks treatment.

The trainee vet has suffered from the rare condition for five years, having never recovered from the embarrassment of being sick in front of her classmates at school. The phobia also means Miss Pelling cannot bring herself to revisit places where she has vomited, such as fairgrounds, aquariums and her local cinema. (Link)

Rickets increasing

Rickets is a condition when the bones in young children get soft, deforming and fracturing. It is very common in developing countries but now seems to be on the rise elsewhere too. Doctors are now advising all pregnant mothers to take vitamin D supplements.

A family with rickets. Paris, 1900.

All pregnant women should take vitamin D supplements to stave off increasing rates of rickets in children, researchers have advised. Babies and toddlers should also be considered for supplements in order to help stop the resurgence of the bone disease, they say.

It is thought use of high factor sunscreen and children increasingly playing computer games inside is contributing to a resurgence of the problem. Doctors say more children than ever are presenting with vitamin D deficiency which can cause seizures and rickets, which is a bone- wasting disease that was thought to have been wiped out in the 1950s.

It is believed cases of full-blown rickets, which impairs bone development leading to deformities, poor teeth, stunted growth and general ill health, could be as high as one in 100 in some groups. (Link)

What's for Dinner? Grasshoppers!

Eat more insects, say scientists. Insects are a big part of the diet of the local populace in some countries in South East Asia - as I am elsewhere in the world. Grasshoppers, wasps, locusts, crickets and dragonflies. The mental image of the Australian Aborigines eating the fat white worms will stay with me forever! And now scientists are urging everyone else to add insects to their diets.

Eating insects such as wasps and grasshoppers has health benefits and should be encouraged in the Western diet, scientists have said. The bugs are rich in protein and some minerals and are lower in cholesterol than beef or pork. Research carried out at the National Autonomous University of Mexico found that 1,700 species are eaten in at least 113 countries across the world, usually as a substitute for meat.

Grasshoppers have 20 grams of protein and just 6 g of fat per 100g while fire ants have 13.9g of protein and 3.5g of fat. Crickets are sources of iron, zinc and calcium. Eating insects also keep puts less strain on the environment because cultivating insects requires forest to be preserved rather than felled. David George Gordon, a Seattle-based naturalist and author, says: "Insects are the most valuable, underused and delicious animals in the world. "Maybe we in the West are the weirdos." (Telegraph)

Changes in Parenting attitudes

Dorling Kindersley, the family reference book publishers, Practical Parenting magazine, and the website saga.co.uk. have conducted a survey comparing parental attitudes today with those of the 60s and 70s. One of the major changes they found was the presence of Fathers-to-be during the birthing process. It is 94% now whereas in the 1960s it was 27%.

Perhaps because women can 'see' the unborn child due to scans, there has also been an increase in the number of mother-to-be communicating with their child.

The child care expert Dr Miriam Stoppard, who has been publishing child care books for 25 years now, has praised fathers for overcoming their squeamishness to be present at their child's birth. The survey will be published in the July issue of Practical Parenting.
(More here: Telegraph)

Being sad helps concentration in school

Not sure exactly how I can apply this bit of research to my son - I am interested in trying anything that helps him to concentrate better but I cannot see me making him sad every day before sending him to school ... LOL! No need to actively enforce misery as part of the school curriculum, says the lead researcher. That's good to know!! Maybe the trick is to keep him in a neutral mood - not too buoyant, but not sad either.

Children who are wiping away a tear in class are better able to concentrate than those who are feeling happy, according to new research. The research, carried out at the University of Plymouth, found children who were in a negative or neutral mood were more likely to be questioning and critical in their thinking, assisting them in tasks which required close attention. Those who were feeling happy and carefree were more likely to gloss over details and therefore more prone to error.

Dr Simone Schnall, the lead researcher, said the results showed that while being happy assists creativity and imagination, a negative or neutral mood was more useful when it came to concentration skills. "Research has shown that when it comes to the broader picture, or creative tasks, the confidence that comes with a good mood helps performance," she said. "Our study shows that a negative mood can be useful. It tells us to pay attention. It warns us there is a risk of something going wrong and that caution can help children to perform better." (More Here: Telegraph)

Lorenzo's Oil boy dies

Lorenzo Odone, whose parents' battle to save him from a rare nerve disorder was depicted in the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil, has died from pneumonia aged 30. Doctors had predicted he would not live beyond childhood when he was diagnosed with the incurable disease aged six.

But his parents found what seemed to be a cure made of acids from olive and rapeseed oils. Lorenzo had Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a genetic disease that progressively destroys the brains of young boys.Lorenzo was given less than two years to live but his parents refused to accept the doctors' prognosis. With no scientific training, they took on the medical establishment and set about finding a cure.

In 1986 it seemed they had succeeded with a combination of oils that effectively reduced the long-chain fatty acids in the blood. Despite the fairytale ending in the film, the claims have always been controversial and children suffering from ALD continued to die, despite being treated with Lorenzo's oil.

However, a 10-year study showed that while the oil does not appear to work for people who are already ill, it does seem to prevent illness in those whose genes make them vulnerable to developing symptoms. (BBC)