Hatha Yoga relieves Asthma symptoms

A study presented this week at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in Seattle, says that people with asthma who practiced Hatha Yoga for 10 weeks were able to cut back on some of their asthma medication, relieve its symptoms and improve their quality of life. "It's dramatic but not surprising," said Dr. Jonathan Field, director of the allergy and asthma clinic at New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Medical Center in New York City. "There have been some smaller studies that have stated this before, but I don't think they've ever used a standardized scale of this sort."

Forbes

Amy Bidwell, senior author of the study and a doctoral student in the department of exercise science at Syracuse University, had injured her back when she was working as a personal trainer. "I opted for yoga, not surgery, and it pretty much healed me," she noted.

Bidwell and her co-authors, one of whom is a physician, randomly assigned 20 individuals aged 20 to 65 to practice Hatha yoga two-and-a-half hours a week or to join a (non-yoga) control group, for a total of 10 weeks. "We hold poses up to a minute and focus on deep breathing, which is critical to asthmatics" said Bidwell, who is also a yoga instructor.

Heart rate variability, oxygen consumption and ventilation were also assessed while volunteers performed each of two tasks: handgrip for three minutes and an upright tilt for five minutes. Overall, scores of individuals participating in the yoga arm of the trial improved an average of almost 43 percent.

Hatha Yoga, which combines breathing exercises with postures, and is the most common form of Yoga in the west. Rachel Weisz, Madonna, Naomi Russell, Shannen Doherty, and Sophie Anderton have all practiced Hatha Yoga. It is also popular among Victoria's Secret models. The actress Marisa Tomei maintains her svelte figure with Hatha Yoga:

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Cellulite removal claims

At some point in their lives almost all women will develop cellulite somewhere on their bodies. Cellulite is a condition where the skin becomes uneven and develops dimples after puberty, but more commonly as we get older. Women's skin has more fat cells than men's, and the collagen fibres of the connective tissue in females are upright, while in males they are slanted. As more fat squeezes into these collagen fibres they break down and the skin appears with ugly dents and dips, like an orange peel. The causes of cellulite in women are: being overweight, having an unhealthy diet, not drinking water, lack of exercise, and poor blood circulation due to smoking or stress. Cellulite removal claims have been made for many commercial products. Early this month the John Lewis store chain in the UK sold out its anti-cellulite underwear (above photo) within hours of going on sale!

The £25 Scala Bio-Fir pants claim to banish dreaded cellulite by using bio-crystals to heat the skin on contact, melting away the fat and toxins that cause cellulite. The store tested the underwear on 50 women who wore the knickers for at least six hours a day for 30 days. Four-fifths said their cellulite was reduced, according to independent expert Dr Luis Augusto Lupato Conrado from the Vale do Paraiba University, Brazil, who monitored the research.

The truth behind this claim will only be revealed by next June 7, since that will be 30 days from the time when eager British women bought these anti-cellulite pants at John Lewis. Scientists and doctors believe that cellulite cannot be just "melted away". The muscle beneath the skin has to be exercised, blood circulation has to improve, and diet controlled, to affect the cellulite.

In the same category are cellulite removal creams; the latest by Nivea. the cosmetics company claims that its latest "Good-bye Cellulite" product contains L-carnitine, a protein found naturally in the body which converts fat into energy. Nivea does not claim that only this cream will remove cellulite; they have a "Good-bye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge", a holistic program that combines expert advice on fitness, nutrition, skincare and style. NIVEA along with celebrity swimsuit designer Shay Todd hosted a Memorial Day Weekend Bikini Bash in Malibu to celebrate the start of summer and the NIVEA "Good-bye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge."



Above Kim Kardashian, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Emmy Rossum at the bash. Kim Kardashian has admitted to having cellulite and is taking the Nivea challenge. But here again doctors point out that creams, gels and oils do not penetrate deep enough into the skin to work where cellulite is. But since the challenge also includes diet and lifestyle changes, it will be difficult to say if the cream alone works! More than any cream, a simple massage stimulates circulation and lymphatic drainage, lowering the amount of water stored in the fatty tissue.

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Jaime King fitness transformation

Jaime King was a skinny teen model who smoked and did drugs. Today 30-year old Jaime is a successful actress with a host of upcoming movies, including the current 3-D release My Bloody Valentine: The Naked Truth. King now has a more curvy figure, works out and eats healthy, is happily married and looking forward to having kids.

Jaime King was recently voted number 79 on the hot 100 list of girls in Maxim. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, she became obsessed with modeling and shunned the regular experiences of teenage girls. Jaime told Maxim magazine: "I never fit in like a typical kid. My sister was captain of the drill squad, but the cheerleader jock thing was never for me. Instead, I took photos and developed my own film. I loved modeling because I loved the photography aspect."

There were other issues, which many teenage girls experience: "When I was in junior high, I had a lot of problems with people," Jaime told the New York Times. "I started getting my breasts earlier than everyone, I had my period earlier, and people really made fun of me."

On left, the skinny model's transformation into a curvy actress (right).

Jaime King first enrolled in a local modeling school and was luckily discovered by a famous agent; she dropped out of school and started modeling in New York using her nickname "James". So many people around her were smoking and doing drugs that King soon picked up these habits. "I've tried to think about the roots of why I was an addict," she once told a reporter. "I think I was just young." All the smoking, drugs, and pressure to look thin took its toll and Jaime returned to Omaha and checked into rehab.

In 1999 King took on her real name "Jaime" and returned to New York to try her luck as an actress. Jaime did many small movie roles and TV appearances (hosting a MTV show with Rebecca Romijn) but her first major role was in the 2003 Bulletproof Monk with Chow Yun Fat and Seann William Scott. This movie also began her fitness transformation: "We got to jump on, like, trampolines, learn flips, learn karate, kung fu, Hong Kong street fighting."



Jaime King hugs one of her best friends Selma Blair. One of her other close friends is Jessica Alba with whom she shares fitness trainer Ramona Braganza. "Working out is so much easier when I’m with Jess. I don’t want to look like a wuss in front of her, so I push myself pretty hard," the actress told OK Magazine. Jaime also likes to run and surf. For her diet King eats eggs for breakfast and gluten-free toast. Lunch and dinner are also simple, a salad, some kind of protein and vegetables. "Sometimes a baked potato. I’m a big fan of baked potatoes."

Jaime likes Chinese and Italian food when eating out, and she allows herself a sweet treat once in a while, like waffles. As a spokesperson for Revlon, Jaime King raised awareness for breast cancer. "I recommend that women make sure they do their self check exams and stay focused on their health. There are things you can do to lower your risk. I place a great deal of importance on maintaining a healthy weight, eating right, and staying active."

Jaime King is married to Kyle Newman who directed her in Fanboys. Among her other upcoming and future movie releases are: The Pardon, Waiting for Forever, A Fork in the Road, Tribes of October, and Riding the Pine. Jaime has one legacy from her teen years that she cannot transform....her tattoos! She's got her surname "King" tattooed between her shoulders and winged fairies on her lower back. "Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t just dye my hair pink or blue like a normal teenager. Now I have to spend two extra hours in the makeup chair covering them up!"

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Sun exposure and sunscreen

Just 20 minutes under the sun gives us enough Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin essential for bone strength. But most people aren't looking for vitamins while getting sun exposure in their bathing suits....they're too busy swimming, surfing, or having fun on the beach. Many others look to get sun exposure to give their skin a lovely tan! And only a few of them bother to use sunscreen. According to a survey of 1,000 adults by the Consumer Reports National Research Center 31 percent of Americans reported not using sunscreen at all, while 69 percent were occasional users.

Meanwhile in the UK SkyNews reports that not all sunscreens give the amount of SPF protection that they print on their labels. In tests on common sunscreen brands Which? magazine found that four products claiming an SPF of 15 failed to provide protection of at least 12.5 - Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Wilkinson's Wilko and Malibu. Asda's Sun System Protection Lotion recorded a sun protection factor (SPF) of 24 in the Which? tests, and costs just £3 a bottle.



To get Vitamin D for bone strength, the sun exposure to the body must be without sunscreen, early in the morning, and not for more than 20 minutes. For all other activities under the sun use sunscreen. And since most sunscreen washes off with water or sweat, it must be re-applied if you're spending long hours under the sun. Even those with sunscreen should avoid the sun between 10am and 4pm so they don't burn their skin.

Prolonged sun exposure can cause skin cancer. People getting exposure to lamps in tanning beds also need to wear sunscreen. According to the American Cancer Society people who use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get skin cancer than those who don't!

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Salt's risky taste

You see this phrase in almost all cooking recipes: with salt to taste. Which means add as much salt as you like! Excessive salt consumption is a major health risk leading to dangerous condition like high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. Ready to eat meals and junk food contain excessive salt; health campaigners in the UK believe that 7000 people are dying earlier than necessary each year because they eat too much salt. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published salt-reduction targets for 2012, concentrating on bread, meat products, breakfast cereals and convenience foods.

Daily Mail

Kellogg's corn flakes have 1.75g of salt per 100g. The FSA say this should come down by 42 per cent to a maximum of 1g. Heinz tomato ketchup, which contains 2.25g of salt per 100g, will have to have no more than 1.83g by 2012. The salt-reduction target for shop-bought sandwiches is between 25 and 30 per cent, depending on the filling.

The FSA is looking for a 42 per cent reduction in the salt level in crumpets, bagels and croissants and a 9 per cent cut on bread. Salt in mature cheddar cheese, which gives it much of the flavour, should come down by just under 8 per cent. The salt maximum for burgers has been cut by 25 per cent and for sausages by 20 per cent.

However, manufacturers, including the Federation of Bakers, argue that the public is not prepared to accept the change in taste that will result from using less salt. Gordon Polson, of the Federation of Bakers, said it could be "technically impossible" for the industry to deliver further reductions "without compromising taste or quality".

Salt is consumed for taste, and used as a preservative; it has minerals like sodium, potassium, chloride and magnesium which are essential for the the body's electrical activity (transmitting nerve signals). Sodium also helps with muscle recovery in athletes and in maintaining normal heart rhythm. But too much sodium leads to hypertension, stroke, and heart attacks; excessive salt consumption is dangerous for women, because it causes loss of bone strength. The body will expel sodium that it does not need, and for every 1,000 mg of sodium it excretes in urine, 26 mg of calcium is also lost.

Luckily these essential minerals: sodium, magnesium, chloride, and potassium, are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, grains, and pulses, and we don't need "salt to taste" in our food. Moreover, refined table salt is actually stripped of magnesium and potassium, containing 99% sodium-chloride. Which is why refined salt is considered one of the "three white poisons"; the other two being refined sugar and refined flour. So its a no-brainer to drop table salt from our daily diet, and just stop eating potato crisps, burgers, pizzas. But salt consumed since childhood becomes an addictive taste, which leads to salt cravings in many people, just as women get sugar cravings.

Some salt craving, like in pregnant women is the body's demand for more sodium, or it can be sometimes due to a rare medical condition like adrenal insufficiency. But mostly salt craving is due to the taste we get for it since childhood; one way to prevent this risky taste from developing in kids is to flavor their food with lemon, herbs, or spices instead of table salt.

Adults should control their risky salt taste by using substitutes like pepper, garlic, spices, or potassium-chloride. Cheese lovers can eat Parmesan instead of processed cheese. Drinking water is essential for controlling salt levels in the body. Excessive salt can also be reduced by eating potassium-rich foods such as bananas, apricots, rhubarb, citrus fruit, potatoes, beetroot and Marmite.

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Girls Aloud beauty tips

Cheryl Cole, voted number one in the list of sexiest female celebrities, and the rest of the all-girl pop group Girls Aloud, share their beauty tips with The Mirror. Cheryl Cole, second from left in the picture below, says "If you only have time to do one thing, make it mascara - as it makes your eyes look more awake." She swears by L'Oreal Shocking Volume Mascara, and uses Eylure false lashes when on stage.

Sarah Harding, extreme right, says, "Put concealer under your eyes and bronzer on your cheeks if you look tired." She wears different make-up brands but particularly loves L'Oreal mascara and Eylure lashes.

Nicola Roberts, extreme left, shares her beauty tip: "My top tip is to go for make-up that suits you, not what you want to look like. You should also do your make-up in natural light if you can. My fave products are Dainty Doll foundation and concealer, eyelash curlers and Mac Shine Cream."

Kimberley Walsh, second from right, says, "I don't do the full toning, cleansing routine. I use a face wash, then wipes and then I apply loads and loads of moisturiser to my face so it's more or less white before I go to bed. But I'll treat myself to a facial now and then."

Nadine Coyle, center, says, "I'm obsessed with moisturisers. I don't like putting anything oily on my face and the Origins oil-free moisturiser works." Before joining Girls Aloud Nadine was conscious of her buck teeth, but now her top beauty tip is: "Less is more. Use mascara and blusher and that's the basics sorted."

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Danica Patrick fitness and diet

Racer girl Danica Patrick, the first female driver to win an Indycar race, is being marketed as a role model for girls and young women. While critics question her celebrity status and pass snide remarks when she poses in bikinis, or appears in raunchy adverts, Danica Patrick continues racing and milking her celebrity status. Early this year Patrick posed for the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, for the second year running.



Danica Patrick posing on a Shelby Cobra 427 convertible. Patrick says, "I'm pretty girly outside the car. If you saw my shoe collection, you'd understand."

Danica is 5'2" and weighs under 100 pounds. While preparing for this SI swimsuit photo shoot Patrick says she "didn't eat anything for all of Thanksgiving or Christmas." Otherwise Danica loves cooking her own food, "Some sort of fancy salad, maybe teriyaki salmon. I'm pretty decent at making healthy food taste good." Patrick appeared on the cover of the latest Shape Magazine and in an interview revealed that in her diet plan a typical breakfast for her includes: a three egg-white omelet and oatmeal with cinnamon, flax meal and brown sugar. For lunch she had an open-faced turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard, and a slice of cheese from time to time. "I worry about the scale like anyone else, but I have to make it through five-hour races. It’s a constant battle for me," she says.



28-year old Danica Patrick drinking a glass of milk, as part of the Got Milk? campaign, which encourages people to drink cow's milk for health. Patrick told Shape about her fitness plan: running for an hour every day, working on her shoulders, forearms and backs with a personal trainer. "I skip days here and there and don't beat myself up for it," she said.

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Laughing is health insurance

Laughing is a natural reflex action of the human body, triggered by feelings of happiness and joy. It can be a reaction to reading or hearing jokes, watching comedies on TV or comedians on stage, and can also be physically induced in some persons through tickling. Scientists have their own theory on why we laugh; they say that laughing began as communication, a form of insurance for the tribe that there was no danger and all was okay. The phrase "laughter is the best medicine" is not baseless because laughing does have some benefits.

Laughing is health insurance for the body and mind because it reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and enhances the immune system. A pleasant expression on the face shows confidence and happiness; a smile takes that pleasant expression further by exercising the facial muscles and brightening the eyes. But laughing hard gives a complete workout to the facial muscles and helps you look better by removing stress lines and making the skin glow through increased blood circulation. Pretty girl Kristin Kreuk laughing out loud:



Laughing is more than just a facial muscles exercise. When we laugh out loud (LOL) normal breathing pattern is disrupted. It becomes more spasmodic as well as deeper. This is why heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension increase, just as in exercising. And when we stop laughing the heart rate, blood pressure, and muscular tension drop to normal, leaving us feeling very relaxed.

But laughing is one exercise that also works out the internal organs. Since laughing is all about deep rapid breathing and exercising the vocal chords, the heart, lungs, larynx, and thorax get a nice workout. This also helps to massage the internal muscles in the abdomen, liver, and diaphragm.

Through the day stress hormones like adrenalin, GH, and cortisol increase in the blood in response to the pressures and strains of daily life. Laughing helps to restore these back to normal; it also signals the brain to release endorphins and pain relievers which make us feel relaxed and happy.

Victoria's Secret angels Miranda Kerr, Marisa Miller, and Alessandra Ambrosio laughing....but why? Did the photographer crack a joke, was the water too cold, or did they see something funny?

Laughing together is a means of social bonding and acceptance. It is also contagious; one person's laughter can induce others into laughing even before they know why it all started. This is why sitcoms on TV use canned laughter to stress every punchline, and every humorous or embarrassing situation on their shows.

Laughing is moderate exercise, helps you look good, and is health insurance against stress and depression. So stop typing LOL, LMAO, ROFL and start laughing!

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Medical Negligence NHS exposed

Medical negligence refers to a failure by health care providers to take proper care of, or act in a way harmful to, the patients in their care. Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has a proper medical complaints procedure, under which hospitals that are part of the network can be sued for a host of medical negligence claims, including poor quality of service, insufficient information provided, attitude of medical staff, condition of buildings, delays or cancellations in health care, administrative problems, food, facilities, and even visiting hours. Most patients are not aware of their medical neglect, specially when they happen to be elderly, and this is where whistleblowers come in.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) was passed in 1998 to enable employees to blow the whistle on wrongdoing at their place of work. The Act applies to all NHS employees and professionals like doctors, nurses, dentists, opticians, optometrists, and pharmacists.



Nurse Margaret Haywood (photo:Dominic Lipinski/PA) became a whistleblower at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton after complaints to her ward manager went unheeded. Between November 2004 and May 2005 Margaret agreed to work with the BBC's Panorama programme to film the medical negligence of elderly patients in her ward. The programme 'Undercover Nurses', was screened in July 2005. Footage from her filming showed examples of health care neglect, like patients not getting food and medicines on time, nurses (male and female) behaving rudely and shouting at the sick and aged, an elderly patient sitting in clothes he had soiled the night before.

After the programme aired and caused outrage, Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust issued a public apology admitting "serious lapses in the quality of care". Even though whistleblowers are protected under the PIDA, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) removed Margaret Haywood from the nursing register last month, on a technicality. It was argued that she had violated patient confidentiality by filming the medical negligence in her ward without permission from the patients.

Even though all the patients gave consent after they had been filmed, this was not enough for the NMC, which stuck to the technicality and removed Margaret from the nursing register. Haywood, represented at the hearing by Dr Karen Johnson, was devastated: "I admitted breaching patient confidentiality, but I did not expect them to conclude that my fitness to practise had been impaired."

The 58-year old grandmother has been a nurse for 20 years and is presently employed at a private care home. In an interview with Panorama Margaret said, "There was no other way of doing it really. But I think the public needed to be aware of what was going on on the ward. They're putting their relatives in there believing them to be cared for and that wasn't happening."

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Ali Larter fitness and diet plan

Beautiful Ali Larter seems to say, "Put your shoulders back and smile", to get good posture in a photo for In Style Magazine. Ali Larter started out as a model, starred in teen movies, and then sank out of sight for some time before resurrecting her career with TV shows like Heroes. She stars in Obsessed as a femme fatale lusting after a married man; the in shape Larter has a girl-girl fight scene with Beyoncé Knowles. All through the ups and downs in her career, Ali says, "Working out has always been a part of my life."

Growing up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Larter was a sporty girl, playing softball and soccer. She describes herself as a tomboy: "I was one sock up and one sock down with dirty, scraped-up knees." In physical activity she may have been tomboyish but Ali is also a proper girl: "I'm a bit of a contradiction," she says "I like tomboy stuff, but I also love girlie, girlie lingerie because I feel sexy when I'm in it." She picked up the bad habit of smoking while working as a model and only gave it up recently; Ali chews Dentyne fire gum to resist the urge to smoke.



In Varsity Blues gorgeous Ali will always be remembered for the scene where she wears blobs of whipped-cream on her privates....and nothing else. But she loves to burst male fantasies by revealing that it was actually shaving cream: "Men are still seriously bummed out because shaving cream sounds so less appetizing!" Like good friend Amy Smart, Ali Larter sticks to organic food like cereal, muesli, soy milk, etc in her diet.

But she does have her days when she wants to indulge in treats like dumplings and scallops, or ice cream and chocolate, or burgers and fries with mayo. But when she began to indulge too often the results showed on her body: "The faxes went out from the producers and the director to my agents to my manager to call me and ask me to lose weight," says Ali Larter. "I just remember sitting in my trailer hysterically crying from the embarrassment I felt about myself, my body – and that no one could talk to me directly." So now whenever Ali gets the urge to indulge in treats like ice-cream or chocolate soufflé she follows the rule of "take three bites and throw the rest out!"

She follows her fitness plan which includes running, hiking with her dogs, yoga, and cycling. Ali Larter told Shape Magazine that she goes for regular morning jogs three or four times a week in LA's Runyon Canyon Park: "I don't think about it, I just do it. I never ever miss my workout. Never!"



Ali Larter, above posing for Maxim Magazine, drinks lots of water and believes sweating is healthy and good for the skin: "I go to a spa every couple of weeks for a steam bath so I can sweat out all the impurities."

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