Iraqi plastic surgeon Haider remembers only too well when most of his patients were disfigured victims of bomb blasts and suicide bombers. Now clients just want to be made beautiful.

Haider, 41, whose full name is being withheld because doctors are targets of assassination attempts in Iraq, has worked since the start of the 2003 US-led invasion to repair people’s shattered or burned extremities.

“I still remember that little girl who had part of her face and neck burned a…

A nuclear reactor in the Netherlands was shut down for safety reasons forcing cancer patients across Europe to wait longer for their diagnoses.

Activity at the reactor in Petten was suspended following the discovery of air bubbles in the cooling system, its owners Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) said in a statement on its website.

NRG produces technetium, a medical isotope, at the reactor in the north-west of the country. Medical isotopes are very small quant…

A pioneering euthanasia law which would allow terminally ill patients to refuse medical treatment and make it illegal to keep someone alive by artificial means is being readied by local government of Spain’s southwestern region of Andalucia.

Under the text of the draft law, which will be put to a vote in the region’s parliament, patients will have their “will and dignity” respected during the final stages of their lives, the socialist government of Andalucia said in a statement. …

A new report says that Big Pharma may be throwing away billions of dollars on ad campaigns in the United States in an effort to promote a drug directly with the public.

In 1997, the United States lifted a ban on prescription-drug ads that are pitched directly at the public rather than at doctors or other health professionals.

The change prompted pharmaceutical companies to invest heavily in retail advertising, and annual spending in this sector now averages more than five…

Chinese state media is reporting that Beijing hopes to stave off an obesity epidemic among its youth with a dramatic increase in physical education.

All students aged seven to 18 returning to school from their summer holidays will have to attend daily PE classes, the China Daily reported, citing the Chinese capital’s education bureau.

Previously they were required to have PE only once a week, and sometimes even that class was skipped because schools wanted to give student…

A 22-year-old engineering student, who participated in Chennai Marathon run here, died allegedly due to cardiac arrest after reaching the finishing point on Sunday.

According to police, M Santosh, a student of Anna University in Chennai, collapsed after reaching the finishing point of the half marathon run of 21.09 km.

Santosh fainted immediately after reaching the finishing point at the Gandhi Statue and was rushed to Government General Hospital where he died of ‘cardiac arrest’, police said.

Expert’s opinion

Unlike many activities, training for a marathon is serious business. In failing to train properly, you not only risk failing to complete the race, you also risk seriously injuring yourself which may prove fatal as in Santosh’s case.

Dr. Malissa Wood, a cardiologist, four-time marathoner, and codirector of the Massachusetts General Hospital Women’s Cardiovascular Health Center says that among marathon runners, the biggest cardiac risk seems to arise in people who train the least. People who worked up to a marathon by running at least 45 miles a week for at least three to four months ”were golden. They didn’t get into any trouble at all,” said Wood. ”If they trained less than 35 miles a week, they were in big trouble.”

Translated for the rest of us, this means that for people who are not in peak shape ‘’sudden, strenuous activity can trigger a heart attack,” said Dr. Arthur Siegel, a 20-time marathoner and director of internal medicine at Harvard’s McLean Hospital in Belmont.

Daniel Radcliffe struggles to tie his own shoelaces – because of a medical condition called dyspraxia. Developmental dyspraxia is an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. It is an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted.

Despite his difficulties, Daniel admits his condition has been a blessing – because it was the inspiration for his acting career.

Daniel says he was allowed to start going to film auditions after his mother decided he needed a confidence boost because he was struggling academically.

Daniel added: “I was having a hard time at school in terms of being crap at everything.”

The actor’s spokeswoman said: “Yes, Daniel does have dyspraxia. This is something he has never hidden. Thankfully his condition is very mild and at worst manifests itself in an inability to tie his shoe laces and bad handwriting.”

In the final movie in the Potter series, Deathly Hallows, the first part of which is due for release in 2010, he reportedly performed a particularly daring stunt scene when his double failed to turn up. He was pulled from a burning building by a wire attached to a 100ft crane.

A leading authority on dyspraxia, neurologist Dr David Younger of the New York University Medical School, said very recently ‘I’m a big fan of the whole Harry Potter series and I am surprised Daniel Radcliffe suffers from dyspraxia.

‘He clearly suffers from a mild form, but the fact he shows no sign of it at all is a great tribute to his acting skills and makes him a role model for other people with this condition.’

Dr Younger said: ‘In the majority of children and young people with dyspraxia, we cannot find the cause so the basic treatment is occupational therapy – teaching them to make a plan for their actions and rehearse their movements.’

OTs can help children to succeed in everyday activities by:

• Helping children to develop specific skills, for example through fine motor activities or a special handwriting programme.

• Suggesting changes to the child’s environment. This might include suggesting the child is positioned differently in the classroom to reduce distractions or that he/she uses a different chair at meal times.

• Suggesting different ways of doing things, like using a different pencil, trying a computer or teaching new ways to tie shoe laces.

Harry Potter Movie Actor Daniel Radcliffe Suffers from Dyspraxia

The moisturizing property of watermelon helps smooth your skin and that is why, the fruit finds its use even during winter. Skin blemishes are effectively reduced by Watermelons.

The fruit is rich in Vitamin A, B and C, which keeps the skin fresh, hydrated and radiant. The acids present in watermelon help exfoliate the skin. Moreover Omega 6 and Omega 9 essential fatty acids are present in the fruit, which are highly beneficial for the skin.

The seed oil of watermelon is also considered beneficial for your body and skin. The seed oil easily penetrates the skin and dissolves the sebum buildup.

Winter skin care with Watermelon fruit pack

Ingredients: (fruit pack)

• Watermelon: A few pieces

• Ripe banana: 1/4 cup

• Ripe papaya: 1/4 cup

• Honey 1 table spoon

• Saffron ( kungumapoo): A few shreds subject to availability.

• Oats: 1/2 cup

Method:

Mix all the fruits together and mash them to a pulp. Pour honey on it and leave it for half-an-hour. Then wash your face and apply the paste on your face. Leave it for 1/2 an hour. Then wash your face and massage the oats in circular motion to exfoliate. Wash your face completely and wipe with rosewater.

The fruit pack lightens your complexion and makes the skin to glow.

All the ingredients mentioned above are easily available in Nilgiris, Food World and other shops.

Let your skin glow radiantly with watermelons this winter

Watermelon interesting beauty facts

The Watermelon Health Facts

The prostitution trade has proved itself to be ruthless and unmerciful in Singapore. Take for instance the case of Camille, a Filipina bar girl who was trafficked into the city-state for prostitution. Her pimp compelled her to return to work even before the wounds of a recent appendix removal surgery healed.

Penniless and deeply in debt in a foreign land, 24-year-old Camille, not her real name, had no choice.

She says she had sex with men in hotel trysts arranged by her p…

Schoolgirls in Scotland became the first in the UK to get immunised against cervical cancer on Monday.

Pupils aged 12 and 13 in several areas are being offered the vaccine from this week, as part of a nationwide programme announced last October.

The programme will eventually see all girls in Britain up to the age of 18 receive the jab — although it is not compulsory.

Scotland is the first to start the campaign as schools there started the autumn term earlier …

Muslims who are suffering from diabetes in the Netherlands are putting their health at risk to take part in Ramadan.

The month-long Islamic religious festival, when observant Muslims fast during daylight hours, is just starting around the world.

But Ramadan can cause serious health problems to those suffering from diabetes — a condition where the body releases too much sugar into the blood.

One hospital in Slotervaart, Amsterdam has set up a special unit to d…

What is cosmetic surgery?

Cosmetic surgery is a unique surgery that is done to enhance the physical appearance of our body. Cosmetic surgery utilizes some of the state of the art techniques in corrective procedures.

Cosmetic surgery in India: Overview

Cosmetic surgery package offered in many premier hospitals in India have attracted medical tourists and the elite Indians, as it is affordable.

Use of radioactive isotopes in small doses and utilization of Gamma camera in the treatment packages have added new dimension to the medical tourism in India.

Benefits of Cosmetic Surgery:

• Cosmetic surgery is a safe and smart way to get rid of certain shortcomings in our appearance. This makes us feel confident and enables us to lead happier lives.

• Cosmetic surgery is especially of use to those born with abnormal features like crooked noses, harelips, cleft lips, and so on. Cosmetic surgeries give these people a new lease of life as they do not have to put up with nasty remarks and ridicule.

• Cosmetic surgery takes years off our faces and other body parts. It can tighten the skin texture leading to an overall younger look. This is essential for people in professions, which require a person to look a certain way such as flight attendants, client service executives, and the like.

• Cosmetic surgery is also useful for those who have been through fatal accidents that have left them with a disfigured appearance. Cosmetic surgery helps such patients look the way they used to look before the tragedy struck.

Where is cosmetic surgery done in a specialized way?

In India, Apollo Hospitals excels in drawing the maximum number of successful cases in Cosmetic Surgery. Plastic surgeons of Apollo Hospitals are also heavily involved in clinical research to find new and better methods of surgery. They also volunteer to give reconstructive aid around the world.

VM plastic surgery in Chandigarh

where Dr V D Singh and his team offer specialized services.

To be continued….

A Japanese study has revealed that women who drink a lot of coffee may have less risk of developing cancer of the uterus.

The study led by Japan’s health ministry monitored some 54,000 women aged 40 to 69 over about 15 years, during which time 117 women developed cancer in the womb, according to the medical team.

The researchers at Japan’s National Cancer Center divided the women into four groups by the amount of coffee they drank.

They found the group of wome…

From the moment we are awake till the time we go to bed, our brain is constantly learning, processing, registering and retaining information or inputs from the environment- basically what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Since it happens automatically and easily, we may not even pause to think how information is processed.

Read this insight about how we learn and retain information.

Learning – Registering

83% by sight

11% by sound

3.5% by smell

1.5% by touch

1% by taste


Retention

10% of what we read

20% of what we hear

30% of what we see

50% of what we see and hear

70% of what we discuss

90% of what we say and do

Often, during the course of our professional and personal lives, there come situations when we cannot help but point out mistakes. Criticisms are never welcome, but we can soften the blow with the following tips.

• Criticize in a friendly manner. Preferably allow a compliment to precede criticism.

• Respect the target of your criticism, always criticize privately

• Criticize the act not the person

• Offer a solution with the criticism, for instance while pinpointing a wrong also show what is right, so the communication remains positive and focused on the act rather than the person.

• Always end the criticism with a friendly note. A positive tone and body language is crucial to clear the air of any misunderstanding.

Two US hospitals were put on emergency lockdown Saturday after several patients arrived at St. Louis, Missouri emergency rooms after being exposed to an unknown substance, hospital officials said.

Hazardous materials teams rushed to the hospitals after patients entered complaining of exposure to an mysterious powder, and the teams began decontamination of the patients and dozens of people quarantined after coming in contact with the patients.

“Several patients came to St. Anthony’s Emergency Department from a site in East St. Louis, Illinois with an unknown chemical exposure,” St. Anthony’s Medical Center spokeswoman Mary Jo Wich said in a statement on the hospital’s website.

“As a precaution for our patients, visitors and employees, access to the entire hospital campus initially was restricted,” she said.

Restrictions on the hospital’s non-emergency areas were subsequently lifted, but the emergency department “will remain closed until the nature and extent of the exposure is determined,” Wich said.

Mehlville Fire Protection chief Jim Silvernail said the powder was believed to be a hazardous material and caused respiratory problems among those exposed, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on its website.

Jamie Newell, a spokeswoman for SSM DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, Missouri near St. Louis, said three men who “came in contact with a dangerous substance” were admitted to the facility Saturday afternoon and that the emergency department was put on lockdown shortly threafter.

The men were in fair condition and recovering, she said.

“Fifteen employees and one patient had to be decontaminated as a precaution… but we don’t believe that anybody else has been harmed,” Newell told AFP.

She said officials had identified the substance, and though they had not publicly named it Newell said it was not viral — meaning a widespread airborne contamination was not likely.

Local television station KMOV reported that two patients were in critical condition at SSM DePaul Health Center but Newell denied the report.

KMOV reported that the cases were likely linked to people who were exposed to a substance while rooting through a dumpster in East St. Louis.

News of the exposures emerged as Republican presidential hopeful John McCain was preparing to fly to St. Louis ahead of a rally on Sunday in nearby O’Fallon, Missouri.

There is “no change of plans at this point” McCain spokeswoman Kimmie Lipscomb told AFP.

Source-AFP

SRM