Aromatherapy massage is a scent of success

Aromatherapy massage is a scent of success - I like smellies as much as the next girl, but I don’t believe that bath oils and overpriced candles with hippy names such as Inspiration and Bliss can possibly have any real effect on my health or mood.

But as with many things in life, it appears I have been wrong.

On a recent weekend away, at the divine Vidago hotel, near Porto in Portugal, I booked an eighty-minute aromatherapy massage — Aromatherapy Associates Real Aromatherapy Experience — a treatment that has been loved by everyone from Princess Diana to Ava Gardner.

Reviving: An aromatherapy massage can give you a physical and emotional boost

It was a revelation. My therapist explained that when essential oils (the distilled essence of plants) are absorbed into the skin, they have real physical effects — helping clear sinuses, easing aches and pains — while the smell has an effect on our emotions.

I told her I wanted to be relaxed yet revived and, whatever combination of oils she used, worked.

Using a special massage technique that works on certain pressure points along the spine, the usual ache across my shoulders vanished. By the end of the treatment I felt uplifted, rather than exhausted, which is how I usually leave a massage.

Since then, I have been using two of these Aromatherapy Associates oils every day: the Revive oil which I rub into my skin in the morning and which is said to have brilliant effects on circulation and can even help with hangovers; and the Deep Relax oil at night, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s safe to say I’m an aromatherapy convert. ( dailymail.co.uk )

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An Iranian woman faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery.

An Iranian woman faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery. Amnesty International yesterday called on the Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of mother-of-two Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and the hanging of another woman said to be a political activist.

'Help us save our mother': Pleas from the children of 'adulterous' Iranian woman who faces death by stoning. Ashtiani was convicted of having an ‘illicit relationship’ with two men in May 2006 and received 99 lashes as her sentence. Despite this, she has also been convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery

The 43-year-old has retracted a ‘confession’ she said was made under duress.

Appealing for help to the international community, her daughter, Farideh, 16, and son, Sajad, 20, said yesterday: ‘Please help end this nightmare and do not let it turn into a reality. Help us save our mother.’

Under Iran’s Islamic penal code, adultery is punishable by stoning to death or flogging, while hanging is the penalty for murder and other crimes such as drug trafficking.

Stoning sentences were widely carried out after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, but have been rare in recent years.

Men killed in this way are buried to the waist, while women are buried deeper, to stop the stones hitting their breasts.

If a prisoner manages to pull free during a stoning, he or she is acquitted or jailed, but is not executed. It is easier for a man to drag himself free because he is not buried so deeply.

In December 2008 a man convicted of adultery escaped death by stoning by dragging himself out of the pit he had been buried in for the punishment.

But two other alleged male adulterers were killed by the barbaric method in the same incident, which took place in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.

Iranian activists against stoning say it is not prescribed in the Koran.

Iran has the highest execution rate in the world.

Amnesty International has recorded 126 executions between January and June – among them five political prisoners. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - An Iranian woman faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery.

Smoking Bans Good for Non-Smokers

Smoking Bans Good for Non-Smokers. Report could get more states to pass laws to curtail secondhand smoke, experts say Bans on smoking in public places really do work at reducing heart attacks from secondhand smoke, a major study finds.

Smoke-free policies can reduce the risk of heart attack by up to 47 percent and significantly reduce the likelihood of other heart problems, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM).

The report also found compelling evidence that even a brief exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger a heart attack.

"We did conclude a cause-and-effect relationship exists between heart disease and secondhand smoke exposure," Dr. Lynn R. Goldman, chairwoman of the IOM committee, said during a press conference Thursday.

Also, sufficient evidence exists to support a cause-and-effect relationship "between exposure to secondhand smoke and heart attacks or acute coronary events," said Goldman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Moreover, the more secondhand smoke you are exposed to, and the longer you're exposed to it, the greater the risk for heart problems or heart attack, Goldman said.

In the United States, about 43 percent of nonsmoking children and 37 percent of nonsmoking adults are exposed to secondhand smoke. Despite efforts to decrease exposure to secondhand smoke, about 126 million nonsmokers were still breathing others' smoke in 2000, according to the report.

In 2006, a U.S. Surgeon General's report confirmed the link between involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and heart disease, and it determined that smoke-free policies were an inexpensive and effective way to reduce exposure.

But whether smoking bans actually reduced heart disease has been an ongoing debate, according to the IOM.

This new report puts that issue to rest, said Danny McGoldrick, vice president for research at Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Not only does it document that smoke-free laws result in fewer heart attacks, it may also help get more states and localities to pass smoke-free legislation, he said.

"If policy makers are paying attention to the science, and this is one more piece of evidence that says 'you can actually save people's lives, save health-care costs,' then those states that have yet to act should do so," he said. "How many dramatic findings do you need before you are finally going to act to protect everybody's right to breathe clean air?"

To reach its conclusions, the IOM reviewed published and unpublished data and heard testimony about the association between secondhand smoke and heart problems.

Studies showed that smoking bans cut heart attacks by anywhere from 6 percent to 47 percent. Given the wide range, the IOM could not precisely determine the risk reduction, but said the benefits were obvious.

Other studies concluded that breathing secondhand -- or "environmental" -- smoke increased risk for heart problems by 25 percent to 30 percent, the report found.

While there was no direct evidence that brief exposure to secondhand smoke could trigger a heart attack, indirect evidence supported this conclusion, the study found.

Data on smoke from other pollution sources suggest that even a relatively brief exposure to particulate matter can cause a heart attack, and particulate matter is a component of secondhand smoke, the report noted.

"This report makes it increasingly clear that smoke-free policies are having a positive impact in reducing the heart attack rate in many communities," Dr. Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association, said in a prepared statement.

"There's no question that secondhand smoke has an adverse health impact in workplaces and public environments. We must continue to enact comprehensive smoke-free laws across the country to save lives and reduce the number of new smokers," he said.

Dr. Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, welcomed the findings.

Because the IOM is cautious and conservative, the report should be taken seriously, Glantz said. "This should shut up the people who have been whining and saying the evidence isn't there," he said.

"Not only do you get an immediate reduction in risk of heart attacks when you put these smoke-free policies into effect, but the effect grows over time," he said.

Glantz said he expects that the findings will influence policy and get more places to enact smoke-free laws. "If they want to prevent heart attacks, they should," he said. [ healthday.com ]

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Why Have Sex? To Fend Off Parasites

Why Have Sex? To Fend Off Parasites. Since Darwin’s time, biologists have tried to understand the advantages of sexual reproduction. This is not trivial because there are clear disadvantages to sex.

Unlike sexual organisms, asexuals do not need a partner to reproduce, can reproduce clonally, and can produce twice as many female offspring. If there were no advantages to sex, and both sexual and asexual individuals were competing for resources, the asexuals would take over in only a few generations.

Despite this, most eukaryotic organisms reproduce sexually, and the great mystery is that mixed sexual-asexual populations do occur in nature.

For over 20 years, this enigma has been explored by my advisor, Curtis Lively at Indiana University and his students and colleagues. Our lab has found support for a hypothesis that sex is beneficial in parasite-rich environments.

The Red Queen Hypothesis
The Red Queen Hypothesis proposes that virulent parasites adapt to infect genetically common hosts, preventing asexuals from becoming too abundant (common is bad). Sex produces genetically unique individuals that can avoid infection (rare is good), and are thus favored by natural selection.

The hypothesis is named after a passage in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”. The Red Queen and Alice run over hills and valleys, but always remain in the same place. Likewise, according to the hypothesis, genetic change in a population is necessary to maintain the status quo. Frequencies of asexual hosts increase (hills) and decrease (valleys) in response to parasite adaptation, while sexual hosts can avoid these coevolutionary ups and downs.

Ultimately, these dynamics over generations prevent an asexual take-over and maintain the coexistence of asexuals and sexuals.

Adaptation of local parasites
Potamopyrgus antipodarum is a New Zealand freshwater snail that reproduces either sexually or clonally, and does not switch modes during its lifetime. As a population, the snails can be asexual or mixtures of asexual and sexual individuals.

In 1987, while comparing mixed snail populations with entirely asexual populations, Lively found the former were more heavily infected by a sterilizing worm parasite. This was the first hint that a high rate of parasite infection in the snail population promotes coexistence of sexual and asexual populations.

Since then, several experiments have shown these parasites are better able to infect snails from the same lake than from different lakes. This suggests parasites are adapted to better infect snails only in the local mixed population, a prediction of the Red Queen Hypothesis.

The association between parasite adaptation and sexual reproduction in snails led me, Lively, and our collaborators Lynda Delph and Jukka Jokela to investigate such a pattern within Alexandrina and Kaniere lakes in New Zealand.

In each lake, sexual snails and parasites are common in shallow-water margins, and deep habitats (more than four meters depth) are dominated by uninfected asexuals. We hypothesized that sexuals had an advantage in the shallow due to coevolving parasites, but not in the deep where parasites are absent.

However, an alternative explanation is that the shallow-water snails are susceptible, in general. We had to determine whether shallow-water snails were susceptible specifically to local, same-lake parasites or to all parasites, regardless of location. The Red Queen would predict the former because the local parasites would have the best opportunity to coevolve with the snails.

Parasites are abundant in shallow water because of the foraging behavior of ducks, the final host in the parasite’s life cycle.

Parasite larvae must be ingested by ducks to complete their life-cycle (ducks accidentally eat the infected snails). Ducks do not forage in deep habitats, so parasites can only complete their life cycle in shallow habitats. It seems there is more selection on the snails and parasites in the shallow since in the deep, snails and parasites rarely encounter each other.

Our experimental design was simple: take shallow and deep-water snails and expose them to parasites collected from the same and different lakes. We found two interesting results.

First, shallow-water snails were more infected by same-lake parasites than were deep-water snails, suggesting parasites coevolve only with snails in the shallow habitats. Deep-water snails do not partake in the coevolutionary interactions just meters away.

Secondly, neither shallow nor deep-water snails were susceptible to different-lake parasites. Therefore, only local (i.e., coevolving) parasites, not parasites from just anywhere, can infect shallow snails.

Common is bad, rare is good
From our experiment, we found support for the Red Queen hypothesis and demonstrated its application to small spatial scales in nature. We showed that parasites are adapted to the snail populations where sexuals and asexuals coexist in shallow water.

In a related study, Lively and Jokela demonstrated that as parasites adapt to infect asexual snails in the shallow water, they indeed favor sex as predicted by the Red Queen Hypothesis. Snails that were genetically common and highly infected by parasites were rare. Snails that were genetically uncommon, and previously resistant to parasites, became common and infected. All the while, sexual snails persisted in the shallow water. This was the first time anyone demonstrated that Red Queen dynamics maintained sexual reproduction.

Despite the costs of sexual reproduction, it seems to have use against parasites. Sexual organisms are genetically rare, and consequently, parasites cannot adapt to them. Evidence from the New Zealand snails show that parasite adaptation to infect common asexual individuals prevents asexuals from eliminating sexuals from the population.

More research in other organisms with both reproductive modes would greatly benefit our understanding of the advantages to sex and the dynamics underlying asexual-sexual coexistence. [ livescience.com ]

READ MORE - Why Have Sex? To Fend Off Parasites

Surprising Sex Statistics

Surprising Sex Statistics. Whether it's penis size, papillomavirus risk, or profligate pregnancies, it's good to know the numbers. Check out these stats to see if you are well within the sexual mean -- or if you're off the charts.

Why do you do it?

Sure, there's the obvious. But there's also an argument for men's biological drive to perpetuate their genes: An 18th-century Russian woman holds the world record for having birthed the most children: 69, which she had over the course of 27 pregnancies that included sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. But she's outdone by the male record-holder for most kids, a Moroccan emperor who, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, sired "at least 342 daughters and 525 sons, and by 1721, he was reputed to have 700 male descendants."

Does size matter?

Relax, guys. No matter what those, ahem, movies might suggest, in the United States, the average erect penis is five to seven inches long, and four to six inches in circumference.

Do you need assistance?

Approximately 5 percent of 40-year-old men and between 15 to 25 percent of 65-year-old men experience erectile dysfunction.

When did you lose your virginity?

The average male loses his virginity at age 16.9; females average slightly older, at 17.4. And a new study shows that genetics may be a factor: inherited traits, such as impulsivity, can make a person more or less willing to have sex at an earlier age.

Do you have a comfortable couch?

About one out of 10 married adults -- 12 percent -- say that they typically sleep alone.

Do you reach orgasm every time?

While 75 percent of men always reach orgasm during sex, only 29 percent of women report the same. In addition, most women are unable to climax through vaginal intercourse, instead needing clitoral stimulation.

Do you get fringe benefits?

Two-thirds of college students have been in a "friends with benefits" relationship, citing the lack of commitment required as the main advantage to such an arrangement. More than half of those who had sex with a friend said they had engaged in all forms of sex; 22.7 percent said they had intercourse only, while 8 percent said they did everything but have intercourse.

How many sex partners have you had?

What's your number? According to a survey of adults aged 20 to 59, women have an average of four sex partners during their lifetime; men have an average of seven.

Did you take maternity leave?

Two-thirds of women who had their first baby between 2001 and 2003 worked during their pregnancy, and 80 percent of those women worked within one month or less of giving birth. Compare this to the period between 1961 and 1965, when 44 percent of women worked during their pregnancy (35 percent worked one month or less before delivering).

Are you infected?

At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women will have a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. HPV, or human papillomavirus, comes in both low- and high-risk forms; low-risk HPV can cause genital warts, and high-risk can cause cervical and other cancers. In 90 percent of cases, the body's immune system will fight off the disease within two years. [ livescience.com ]

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More Work, More Guilt.

More Work, More Guilt. Women have entered the workplace in droves in recent years and now make up nearly 50 percent of the workforce. Many of them leave young children at home. The result: more kids spending less time with mom, and in many cases a lot of adult guilt.

That's the picture emerging from several surveys by the Pew Research Center and others of working moms today. In 2008, women made up 47 percent of the U.S. labor force, up from 38 percent in 1970, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (more than 70 percent of women with children under age 18 were in the workforce). The latest stats suggest the 50 percent mark has been crossed or will be soon - in part because the recession has caused more layoffs among men than women.

While the surveys indicate plenty of discontent among working mothers, the true ramifications of the shift remain unclear.

Mom by the numbers

A peek into modern mom's life comes from surveys by the Pew Research Center as well as the General Social Survey, which has tracked societal trends since 1972 with a sample of at least 1,500 Americans.

Here are some of the results:

• More than 60 percent of working mothers said they would rather work part-time than full-time, while just 19 percent of fathers indicated the same. The sample of 135 mothers and 165 fathers came from a larger, nationally representative survey conducted in the summer of 2009.
• In 2002, nearly 30 percent of surveyed Americans strongly agreed that both spouses should contribute to the household income, with another 28 percent agreeing, but not strongly, with that statement, according to the General Social Survey. That's compared with 1988, when only 15 percent agreed.
• In a 2005 Pew survey, four-in-ten working mothers with children under age 18 reported they always feel rushed, and another 52 percent said they sometimes feel rushed.
• Only 19 percent of Americans agree that women should return to their traditional roles in society, while 75 percent disagreed with this statement, according to Pew telephone surveys of more than 2,000 adults between December 2006 and January 2007. That's compared with 1987 numbers showing 30 percent agreed while 66 percent disagreed.

"The data have been around for maybe 30 years, showing trend lines that [for] men and women there is increasing agreement that women should be occupying non-traditional roles," said Rosalind Chait Barnett of Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

But the data may not tell the whole story.
Some of the Pew surveys are "so bad you can't draw any conclusions," Barnett told LiveScience, citing small sample sizes and ambiguous questions. For instance, she notes the surveys don't specify what is meant by "part-time" and "full-time" work and the specific trade-offs involved.

Still, the survey results are consistent with "the idea of intensive motherhood, which is essentially 'you've got to do everything. You've got to be a great parent,'" said Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina. "At the same time women have their own needs, making it in the world and having a career that's personally satisfying."

What's it mean for families?
In spite of these long-term changes in behaviors and attitudes, many women remain conflicted about the competing roles they play at work and at home. Men, too. "As far back as people have started looking at work-family conflict, about 20 or 30 years, men have always expressed at least as much, if not more, work-family conflict than women," Barnett said.

For some women, the best decision remains simply not to work outside the home.

About 34 percent of mothers with kids under age 18 opt out of the workforce all together, according to the Pew Research Center.

For those who do head to work and need to keep a clear head, Grzywacz said women often use so-called psychological reappraisal in which they tell themselves, "What's good for my child and for me is to be a working mother."

How do moms juggle family, work and a personal life? Grzywacz has found the number-one strategy involves scheduling one's life.

"So they're up early; they fit in every opportune time they have to try to get something accomplished; everything is scheduled out," Grzywacz said.

Next, women adjust their standards. "So whereas maybe before kids were born, there was one set of expectations about what a clean house means, for example, or what a healthy meal means," Grzywacz said during a telephone interview. "Once kids come along, they report, 'Maybe my standards were too high, maybe this is good enough.'"

And home-cooked meals can become a thing of the past. "Next there seems to be a relatively frequent reliance on fast food or commercial foods," Grzywacz said.

One strategy missing from mom's toolbox: Asking for help from a spouse or partner was way down on the list, he said.

That's too bad, as past research has shown working moms had lower stress levels, as measured by cortisol, if they were happily married compared with the less happily married participants. [ livescience.com ]

READ MORE - More Work, More Guilt.

Drinking Your Way to Health?

Drinking Your Way to Health?. Just about every month -- if not every week -- a new study emerges touting the health benefits to be gained from a daily glass of wine or a pint of dark beer.

The benefits related to cardiovascular health have become well-known. A study released in mid-July, for instance, found that moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in women by increasing the amount of "good" cholesterol in the bloodstream and reducing blood sugar levels.

But other studies have linked a daily drink, most often wine, to reduced risk of dementia, bone loss and physical disabilities related to old age. Wine also has been found to increase life expectancy and provide potential protection against some forms of cancer, including esophageal cancer and lymphoma.

But don't invest in that case of Pinot noir just yet.

Experts with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association say that though these studies do show some benefits to moderate drinking, the health risks from alcohol consumption far outweigh the potential rewards.

Drinking any alcohol at all is known to increase your risk for contracting a number of types of cancer, said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. These include cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon/rectum and breast.

"At the end of the day, if you are at very high risk for cancer, you might want to limit your alcohol consumption even further," Gapstur said. "It's a lifestyle modification you can make, and we don't have as many lifestyle modifications for preventing cancer as we do for coronary heart disease."

There also are other health risks from moderate drinking, including liver damage and accidents caused by impaired reflexes, said Dr. Jennifer Mieres, director of nuclear cardiology at the New York University School of Medicine and an American Heart Association spokeswoman.

The health benefits from drinking generally are related to the antioxidants and anti-inflammatories found in red wines and dark beers, Mieres said, but those substances can be found in a number of different fruits and vegetables.

"When it comes to disease prevention, you're better off changing your diet to include fruits and vegetables and get your antioxidants and anti-inflammatories from natural sources," she said.

For example, people can get resveratrol -- the antioxidant found in red wine that's believed to provide most of the drink's health benefits -- from drinking grape juice just as well as from drinking wine, Mieres said.

"For people that don't drink, not drinking is important," Mieres said. "You can get the same benefits of drinking from leading a heart-healthy lifestyle. To me, it's not worth the risk to start drinking. But for people who enjoy a glass of red wine or enjoy drinking, the key is to stick to the definition of moderation," she said.

Moderate drinking is defined as one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. What counts as one drink are:

• 12 ounces of regular beer or wine cooler
• 8 ounces of malt liquor
• 5 ounces of wine
• 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor

Drinking anything more than that on a daily basis is known to lead to a host of health problems that can reduce your life expectancy, Mieres and Gapstur said.

"I think the take-home message is, if you don't drink, don't start to help protect yourself from coronary heart disease because there are so many other things you can do," Gapstur said. "If you already drink, you might want to limit your consumption."

Though the studies touting the positive health effects of alcohol are scientifically accurate, they also appear to play into people's desires for quick fixes to complex problems, Mieres said.

"To prevent heart disease, 50 percent of the work has to come from you," she said. "Prevention is a big piece, and you have to be accountable. You have to make lifestyle changes, and that's very tough to do. People look for easy ways to get heart-healthy benefits, and drinking is an easy way to do that. It's a known human tendency: Let's find an easy way out that doesn't involve a lot of thought or work." [ healthday.com ]

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Speed Of Thought To Speech Traced In Brain

Speed Of Thought To Speech Traced In Brain. In just 600 milliseconds, the human brain can think of a word, apply the rules of grammar to it and send it to the mouth to be spoken. For the first time, researchers have traced this lightning-fast sequence and broken it down into distinct steps.

Researchers got this rare glimpse into the fine-tuned workings of the brain from the signals sent by electrodes implanted in the brains of epileptics. The electrodes help surgeons locate the parts of the brain that cause epileptic seizures so they can be removed, and also help keep surgeons from removing critical parts of the brain

"If you go a few millimeters to the right or left, you might delete their piano lessons or language ability, and that would be sorely missed," said Ned Sahin of Harvard University, one of the researchers who studied the language network.

Because the electrodes are already monitoring language ability in these patients, Sahin and his colleagues can conduct simple language experiments with willing participants and see language processing in real time; essentially, the electrodes offer a more fine-grained look at neural processes than other traditional brain-monitoring technologies, such as MRIs.

The language center

The main brain region Sahin and his colleagues looked at is called the Broca's area, located in the cerebral cortex. This region was discovered to be involved in language processing by the French physician Pierre Paul Broca in 1865.

But beyond knowing that the area is important to language production, "we still have been troublingly unable to pin it down," Sahin said. Whether or not the steps of the language production process happen in parallel or sequentially has been one particularly puzzling question about the brain.

The new electrode study, detailed in the Oct. 16 issue of the journal Science, has set scientists one step closer to understanding the steps of language production in the brain, specifically word recall, the application of grammar (changing tense or number), and actually speaking the word.

By monitoring the brains of three patients while they performed a simple language task (looking at a word, then either using it in a sentence as is or changing its tense or number, and finally articulating it silently), Sahin and his colleagues found three distinct periods of activity in Broca's area at 200 milliseconds (after first being presented with the word), 320 milliseconds and 450 milliseconds.

These three spikes corresponded to the three basic components of language: words, grammar and phonology (the organization of sound). All three also fit within the roughly 600 milliseconds required for the onset of speech.

Distinct steps

The finding shows that Broca's area is involved in all three of these language production steps and shows that they happen at distinct points in time, not all at once in parallel, Sahin said.

While the research answers some questions about how the brain generates language, "this is just one piece in the puzzle," Sahin told LiveScience. It will take more study to further detail all the points of language in the brain: when they occur and what parts of the brain they happen in.

But the finding "may be the nail in the coffin" for one persistent, though long-discredited theory that Broca's area processes the speech part of language, while another area of the brain, called the Werneke's area, processes reading and learning words.

"It's not so simple as Broca's speaks and Werneke's listens," Sahin said.

Funding for the study came from the National Institutes of Health, the Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery Institute at Harvard, the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Harvard Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative. [ livescience.com ]

READ MORE - Speed Of Thought To Speech Traced In Brain

Protection For Your Brain

Protection For Your Brain. If you recently turned a landmark age and immediately forgot your PIN number, don’t panic—you can counteract age-related changes in the brain (which begin at about age 30) with a surprisingly simple regimen of activities guaranteed to nurture and fortify your mental muscle. Here are five easy ways to keep your brain quick and sharp, so you never draw a blank at the ATM again.

1. Exercise

Exercise is known to stave off or delay dementia, but it can actually reverse brain aging too. A team from the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois recently reviewed dozens of past studies and found that aerobic exercise boosts not only speed and sharpness of thought but also the volume of brain tissue. As little as 50 minutes of brisk walking 3 times a week was found to have this brain-expanding effect.

Tip:

For an added boost, walk in the park: University of Michigan researchers found that volunteers whose course took them through a tree-filled setting performed 20% better on memory and attention tests than those who walked downtown.

2. Brush and Floss

Oral health is clearly linked to brain health, according to a team of British psychiatrists and dentists. After studying thousands of subjects ages 20 to 59, they found that gingivitis and periodontal disease were associated with worse cognitive function throughout adult life—not just in later years.

Tip:

Follow your dentist's advice—floss daily and brush your teeth for 2 minutes at least once a day.


3. Eat Blueberries

New research shows that the dark-hued fruits may help sharpen your thought processes. After researchers from the National Institute on Aging and Tufts University injected male rats with kainic acid to simulate the oxidative stress that occurs with aging, rats that had been fed a diet containing 2% blueberry extract did better navigating a maze than rats that didn't get the compound. In another study, the same researchers found that rats that ate blueberries showed increased cell growth in the hippocampus region of the brain. The researchers theorize that anthocyanin—the dark blue pigment found in blueberries—is responsible for these cognitive changes; it contains chemicals that may cross the blood-brain barrier and lodge in regions that govern learning and memory.

Tip:

Stock up on blueberries when they're on sale, and sprinkle them over your cereal or yogurt or blend them into your smoothie. Off-season, buy them frozen; they're every bit as nutritious as fresh.


4. Do Puzzles

Amazingly, you'll knock a decade off your cognitive age. In a University of Alabama study of nearly 3,000 older men and women, those who participated in 10 60- to 75-minute sessions of brain-boosting exercise sharpened their mental abilities so much that their brains performed like those of people more than 10 years younger.

Tip:

Start small—whip out a booklet of basic puzzles when you're riding to work on the train or waiting in a long checkout line. As your skills improve, graduate to more challenging brainteasers.

5. Meditate

More than just a great stress reliever, meditation can also enhance your brain’s gray matter. Participants in a new study from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston appear to have experienced growth in the cortex, an area of the brain that controls memory, language, and sensory processing. In addition, meditators in a University of Kentucky study performed better than their nonmeditating counterparts on a series of mental acuity tests.

Tip:

Make the practice a regular habit—the participants in a recent study meditated an average of 40 minutes a day. But you can start with 15 on your lunch break or before you leave for work. Sit upright, close your eyes, and focus on whatever you're experiencing in the present moment, whether it's birds chirping in the distance or just the sound of your own breathing. [ prevention.com ]

READ MORE - Protection For Your Brain

Don't Ignore That Debt Collector

Don't Ignore That Debt Collector. The rules of engagement with debt collectors have changed dramatically in recent months, and even people who pay their bills on time need to understand what's happening.

In fact, a good chunk of the complaints pouring into the Federal Trade Commission lately come from consumers who don't owe the debts for which they're being pursued.

Unfortunately, being innocent won't protect you from harassing phone calls, dunning letters or credit score damage.

And if you do owe money, you can expect even-more-aggressive collection efforts as the economy deteriorates and consumer delinquencies spike.
Here's why:

• A huge and growing market in old debt. I've tracked the explosive growth of this controversial part of the collection industry in previous columns. Collection agencies buy and sell debts that are typically years old and which may be poorly documented. Since collectors often don't have enough information to find the right debtors, they cast a wide net and sometimes wind up hounding the wrong people.

• The damaged economy. Living in bad times means more people with bad debts. This means collection agencies have more business but a tougher time getting borrowers to pay up, which can lead to more-aggressive tactics. Newly hired collection agents, added as agencies bulk up, may not understand the nuances of the laws governing fair debt-collection practices, and the industry has long had a problem with rogue collectors who do know the law but flout it.

• The rise of collection law firms. In the past, people often were given the advice not to talk to debt collectors -- to simply hang up when they called. The idea was that anything you said could be used against you, so it was better to say nothing.

These days, however, people who refuse to talk to collectors may be more likely to get sued.

"More creditors are working with collection law firms," as opposed to regular collection agencies, said credit expert Gerri Detweiler, author of several books on savings and debt. "If you don't respond, you could run the risk of triggering a lawsuit."

While collection agencies can hassle you and report your bad debts to credit bureaus, they have to hire a law firm to actually sue you and garnishee your paychecks. Collection law firms can skip the middleman, making them much quicker to sue.

Exactly what you should say depends on the situation you're facing.

1. When you don't owe the money.

If you're sure a collector has the wrong person, you can write the agency a so-called cease-communications letter saying you're not the debtor and demanding the agency stop contacting you.

Under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (.pdf file), that's supposed to stop the calls, and the collection agency isn't allowed to contact you again unless it's to advise you that it plans to take some specific action, such as filing a lawsuit -- which is unlikely if it's really not your debt.

There are two caveats here:

• To send a cease-communications letter, you have to know who is calling. By law, the collection agency is required to send you a letter within five days of its first contact with you. In addition to including its own contact information, the agency letter is also required to tell you how much you supposedly owe, the name of the creditor and what to do if you don't think you owe the debt.

Some unethical collection agencies ignore this law. They call over and over without leaving more than a call-back number, if that.

If you talk to one of these collectors, you may be able to get the identifying information you need if you play along -- to a point.

"You might be able to get them to give you the name and address of the company under the guise of: 'I have to look into this and ask my spouse about this debt,'" Detweiler said.

If that doesn't work, an Internet search on the number that shows up on your caller ID, or the call-back number, if any, may yield results.

• It may be your debt after all. The debt may be the result of a dispute and you may well feel it's unfair, but that doesn't mean the collection agency has the wrong person.

Don't try to pretend you don't know anything about a debt if you do. Instead, see whether you can settle the problem with the original creditor or negotiate with the collector to settle the debt in exchange for removing it from your credit report. You can always sue the original creditor in small-claims court, but allowing an unresolved debt to trash your credit is foolish.

2. When it's your debt, but it's outside the statute of limitations.

Every state limits how much time a creditor has to sue borrowers over a debt. The limits vary by state and type of debt, as I explained in "Is there a statute of limitations on debt?"

If the limit has expired on your debt, a collection agency may still file a lawsuit, but to beat the case you would just have to show up in court and point out that the debt is too old.

In many cases, though, you can stop further collection attempts by sending a cease-communications letter that points out the statute of limitations on the debt has expired and that you don't want to be contacted about the debt again.

You may have to repeat this exercise every time the debt is resold to a new collector, however. Also, you want to be dead-sure you're correct about the statute, Detweiler said. Consider consulting with a consumer-law or bankruptcy attorney.

If you want to permanently end collection attempts, you should consider offering the collector a settlement if you can. See Situation No. 4, below.

3. When it's your debt, but you can't pay it.

Here's where you need to tread carefully, Detweiler said. You don't want to provoke the collector into filing a lawsuit against you, which could result in the garnishment of your wages or the seizure of your bank accounts or other assets.

That doesn't just mean not hiding from collection calls; it also means not making promises you can't keep.

"Do try to stay in touch," Detweiler said. "But don't say too much. Something like, 'I can't pay right now; I've lost my job. I'll touch base with you in a month.'"

If the collector presses you, which is likely, just keep responding: "I can't pay right now. There's nothing else I can do."

Don't let yourself be cajoled into making even small payments if it means neglecting more-crucial bills, such as rent, utilities or the payment on the car you use to get to work. For more details, read "How not to pay your bills."

Also, don't raid retirement funds, which are protected by law from creditors, or home equity, which is also often sheltered. If you're tempted to resort to these measures, or your best attempts to avoid being sued fail, talk to a bankruptcy attorney about your options. A bankruptcy filing can stop collection efforts and help you reduce or erase your debts.

"A lot of people wait too long to consult a bankruptcy attorney," Detweiler said. "They wait until after they've made an expensive mistake."

The only time you shouldn't be worried much about lawsuits is if you're "judgment-proof." That status varies somewhat by state, but generally it means that your only source of income is Social Security or disability payments, which are untouchable by most creditors, and that you don't have any assets that can be taken. Again, it's smart to consult an attorney to make sure you know where you stand (bankruptcy attorneys often offer free initial consultation).

4. When it's your debt, and you can pay at least some of it.

If a bill has gone to collections, paying it won't do much good, if any, for your credit scores, as I explained in "When paying bills can hurt your credit."

And many times you'll be dealing with a collection agency that bought your debt from the original creditor for pennies on the dollar. You can always try to get the account returned to the creditor, but often the company that originally extended you credit won't accept any payments and will refer you back to the collection agency.

You should also know that your original debt may have been inflated by interest, fees or the sheer whim of an unethical collector.

You may still decide to pay off your old debts in full and arrange payment plans with the collection agencies. What may be smarter, though, is to make lump-sum settlement offers.

"A collector may well take 35% (of what it says you owe) just to get it in a lump sum and be done with it," Detweiler said.

There's no magic formula for what you should offer, although the older the debt, the less the collector may be willing to accept. "Start lower than what you can pay and negotiate," Detweiler recommended.

Also, make sure you get a letter from the collection agency that it will accept your payment as full restitution for the debt and that it will not resell any unpaid portion. Another point to negotiate, if you can, is the removal of the collection account from your credit reports. You should get these promises in advance and in writing before sending the money.

5. When a collector has gone over the line.

Negotiating or even talking reasonably with a collector can be impossible if the person is shrieking obscenities at you, threatening you with arrest, telling your friends and neighbors about your debt or harassing you with repeated phone calls.

All of those actions are violations of the federal debt-collection laws and signal that you're dealing with an unethical collection agent who can't be trusted to keep his or her word.

You may have better results asking to speak to a supervisor. If the collector just hangs up, only to restart the harassment later, you'll probably want to consult a consumer-law attorney about your options, which may include suing the collector who's breaking the law. [ msn.com ]

READ MORE - Don't Ignore That Debt Collector

Mistakes Newlyweds

Mistakes Newlyweds. Four words no one wants to hear soon after his or her wedding day: "We made a mistake." I'm talking about financial choices, not your choice of spouse. Unfortunately, many newlyweds set themselves up for failure soon after they say "I do." If you bring bad money habits to your marriage or fail to come up with a plan to merge your financial lives, you could potentially doom your relationship to money trouble and endless arguments. That's not exactly "happily ever after."

On the other hand, nothing says "I love you" like the desire to start your marriage on the right financial foot (roses, schmoses). Here are six common pitfalls that trip up new couples. Steer clear of these, and you'll decrease the money tension and increase the harmony in your new life together.

1. Keeping money secrets

Money is one of the most common sources of arguments in a marriage, so it's best to simply avoid the subject altogether, right?

Wrong! Some of the most heated arguments stem from failing to discuss financial backgrounds, expectations and attitudes from the start. Communication is key to the survival of any relationship, and baring your financial soul to your partner is no exception.

Ideally, you want to have this conversation before walking down the aisle. After all, there are good marital surprises ("I didn't tell you I'm a gourmet chef?") and bad surprises ("I didn't tell you I have $20,000 in credit card debt?"). Full disclosure is in order here, and that includes your shoe fetish or gambling habit.

2. Not having a budget

Now that you're settling into your new life together, it's time to discuss the B-word. No, not "baby" -- I mean "budgeting." You're merging two spending habits and two saving habits into one household. So even if you had a budget when you were single (pat on the back), you've got to make a new one with your husband or wife to include his or her income, debts and monthly expenses. That will help to ensure you have enough money left over for that other B-word: "Bahamas."

Your first step is to write down your fixed expenses, such as rent, car payments, insurance premiums and student-loan payments. You should also make a habit of contributing to your savings or investments as if you were paying a fixed bill each month. Then write down your flexible expenses, such as utility and phone bills, transportation costs, groceries, trips to the ATM and miscellaneous purchases. Track your spending for a couple of months to see where your money really goes, then find the spending leaks and plug them. Building a budget is a great way to set common spending and saving goals, identify problems and work together to fix them.

3. Giving one person the financial reins

The honeymoon's over, and it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty of the daily finances. Who will physically pay the bills, monitor the investments and crunch the tax numbers? One person may be more inclined toward these tasks, or you may decide to split the responsibility or trade off each month.

There's nothing wrong with letting one person take over the family finances, as long as both partners are OK with that decision. But that doesn't mean the other partner should be excluded. It's important for each person not only to feel involved in the big financial decisions but also to have an understanding of the day-to-day finances. Each of you needs to know both partners' account information, passwords and bill due dates in case anything were to happen to the other person.

And no matter how you divide the responsibility, it's a good idea to have a regular "money date" each month or so to make sure you're both in the loop. You should go over your budget, review your savings progress and discuss upcoming expenses. How's that for keeping the romance alive?

Also, if you choose to combine your finances after you wed, make sure that major purchases and savings accounts are held in both of your names so that each of you has equal access and can maintain a credit rating. You don't want to find out in the event of a divorce that your name wasn't actually on the car title or savings accounts. Considering keeping separate accounts? Read "New his-and-her banking."

4. Dragging debt down the aisle

What's his is hers, and what's hers is his. Whether you decide to combine your finances or maintain separate accounts, if one of you brought debt into the marriage, it becomes a problem for both of you. You'll need to work together on a plan to pay it off. However, you should never officially commingle your debt. Doing so could hurt the credit scores of the other partner and make it difficult for one or both of you to get credit later. Keep existing credit card and loan accounts in the original holder's name.

If you can help it, it's best to avoid beginning your marriage in the red. Many newlyweds make the mistake of going too far into debt to pull off the wedding of their dreams, go on an exotic honeymoon or buy new furniture and appliances. Before you dig too deep a hole, you should sit down together to determine which expenses are necessary and which are worth a splurge -- and come up with a plan to pay for it all before you spend it.

5. Sweating the small stuff

Marriage is about compromises and simply letting some things slide. So she squeezes the toothpaste tube from the middle, and he doesn't put his socks in the hamper. Big deal. You'll both soon learn to pick your battles and save your energy for issues that really matter.

That goes for picking your money battles, too. I remember my first financial argument with my husband. We had been married two weeks, and we were doing our grocery shopping together. He wanted to buy the brand-name chocolate chips, and I felt strongly that we should save 75 cents and go with the off-brand chips. After a lengthy and heated exchange, we divided up the rest of the shopping list so we wouldn't have to look at each other for the rest of our outing. Then we drove home in a huff. Lesson learned: Never go grocery shopping when you're hungry, tired and irritable. Oh, wait. Financial lesson learned: Don't sweat the small stuff. Was the argument really worth 75 cents? No way.

Of course, if all the little stuff is adding up to a big drain on your finances and causing you to live beyond your means, bring it up at your next money date and work together to find ways you can both cut back. (Ah, there's that compromise idea again.)

But take note: It's important that you build a little "mad money" into your budget for each person to spend at his or her own discretion. (Can you imagine asking your spouse for permission every time you wanted to buy a cappuccino and a muffin or grab a drink with some friends after work?) But as far as the big stuff goes, make it a rule to consult each other on major purchases. You don't want to come home and unexpectedly find a new Mercedes in the driveway -- and the bill that goes with it.

By the way, I now go grocery shopping alone. We decided as a couple it's what's best for our marriage.

6. Failing to plan for an emergency

No one likes to think about bad things happening, but in all the excitement of your engagement, planning your wedding and moving in together, it's easy to overlook this important aspect of financial planning. One of the best gifts you and your spouse can give each other is financial security and protection from life's storms.

First, assess your emergency stash of cash. Every couple should have enough money available to cover from three to six months' worth of living expenses. You never know when the car will break down, one of you will lose a job or you'll have an unexpected medical bill. Need ideas? See MP Dunleavey's column "Why I'm saving up $15,000 this year." If that figure seems out of reach, start here: "Why you need $500 in the bank."

Then you need to make sure you have adequate insurance coverage, including health, auto, renters or homeowners insurance and possibly life insurance. Learn more about the types of insurance everyone should have and how to get the appropriate coverage.
Did you get married without a prenuptial agreement? It's not too late to protect the financial interests each partner brought to the marriage. Consider drafting a post-nup with your lawyers. Plus, make sure you each have written a will to divide your assets in the event of your death or your spouse's. [ msn.com ]

READ MORE - Mistakes Newlyweds

Noordin Dead Was Not By Suicide Bomb

Noordin Dead Was Not By Suicide Bomb. 9 Years became police fugitive, Noordin M Top, the terrorist leader from Malaysia finally can be shot dead after hiding in the bathroom of a house in Solo, Central Java, which was raided by Densus 88.

"The house was burned because there was a motor that was hit and caught fire. To avoid fire, 5 people there were running to the bathroom to take cover," said National Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri (BHD).

BHD stated that in a press conference in his office, Jalan Trunojoyo, Jakarta, Thursday (17/9/2009).

In this bathroom, Noordin lives finally flew. The man who is said to have many wives was killed after hit by an explosion. However BHD ensure that Noordin dead was not by suicide bomb.

"He’s affected by our weapon, not suicide bombing," said BHD.

Noordin’s death was almost similar to his fellow alumnus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Dr Azahari. Azahari who was the bomb assembling expert was killed in a raid in Malang, East Java, on November 9, 2005.

Together with Azahari, terrorist who valued USD 1 billion was allegedly masterminded series of bombings in Indonesia that killed hundreds of victims. Both masterminding the Bali Bombing I (2002), JW Marriott Hotel bombing, Jakarta (2003), Australian Embassy bombing (2004), and the Bali Bombing II (2005).

Noordin (40) is a Malaysian citizen who was born in Kluang Johor, on August 11, 1968. Noordin was recorded to be joined Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and holding the funding part.

However, according to Director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), Sidney Jones, JI experienced internal divisions in 2003. Since then, Noordin led splinter group that is not subject to the JI and pretend to be a representative of Al Qaeda in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

"It’s important to distinguish between Noordin and JI. He was a member of JI, but over the past 5 years has been a splinter group leader, where there are several members of JI, but they are not subject to the JI as an organization," Sidney said some time ago.

After the death of Azahari, Noordin continue recruiting cadres who are willing to be invited to complete a ‘jihad’ with a set bombings targeting foreigners. Noordin is known to be expert in influencing and persuade his followers.

Noordin mastery not only in terms of recruiting ‘bride’ (the man which was ready to commit suicide bombing). Noordin is also slippery like an eel, very smart to avoid the police chase. Noordin is known to be always on the move. He had lived in Riau, but then later preferred to wander in Central Java.

According to a former investigator of the Bali bombings I, Hermawan Sulistyo, Noordin as fast as ‘flash’ to disappear when police track him down. It was 9 years Noordin in the run since then.

"When in Semarang, Noordin had passed with the cop. When pursued, in 2 minutes, he was gone in public crowded," said Kiki, Hermawan close calls.

But now Noordin fugitive has been stopped. The terrorist leader was killed along with 3 colleagues, Bagus Budi Santoso alias Urwah, Aryo Sudarso aka Aji, and Hadi Susilo Adib aka.

READ MORE - Noordin Dead Was Not By Suicide Bomb

Guide To Car Insurance

Guide To Car Insurance. Your car insurance rates are based on a few factors you can't readily change -- your sex, age, marital status and where you live -- and many that you can -- your credit scores, what you drive, how well you drive and how much coverage you buy.

Here's how to get the best deal.

First, let's review the basics. Details vary from state to state.

• Liability insurance pays for injuries and property damage caused by a crash if an insurance adjuster determines you were at fault. It does not cover your injuries or those of other people on your policy, or damage to your vehicle. State minimum requirements provide inadequate protection. Buy no less than $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 for property damage, or no less than $300,000 if your policy has a single limit. You are personally liable for claims that exceed your coverage, so buy even more if you can, and consider an umbrella policy.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist protection covers injuries to the occupants of your car -- and property damage in some states -- if the other driver has no insurance or too little.
• Collision insurance pays for damage to your vehicle in an accident. If your car is totaled, you'll get what the insurer considers the pre-crash market value of your car, minus your deductible. To get a general idea of what that may be, check the Kelley Blue Book private-party price or visit the Web site of the National Automobile Dealers Association. You can pay extra for replacement-cost coverage for newer cars.
• Comprehensive insurance covers theft of your vehicle and noncollision damage to your car, as well as animal collisions. You may be eligible for lower rates if your vehicle has anti-theft and tracking devices.
• * Medical or personal-injury protection provides coverage for you and your passengers, regardless of fault. You may not need this insurance if you have good health insurance.
• Twelve states have no-fault insurance, which generally covers the insured person's injuries and property damage no matter who is at fault.
• Consider gap insurance if you owe more on your car than it's worth.

Reduce your rates

The company you select and the coverage you buy can greatly reduce your rates.

• Shop around. Check rates online at InsWeb.com, call companies, and consult an agent through the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Rates vary greatly depending on a company's operating expenses, history of claims and formulas for setting premiums. Check a company's financial status and consumer record. The last thing you need is to go cheap and then find it's all but impossible to file a claim.
• Increase your deductibles on comprehensive and collision coverage to an amount you can cover out of pocket.
• Consider dropping both if you own your vehicle outright and the combined annual cost for that coverage is more than 10% of what you would get if you car were totaled.
• Ask your insurer about all available special discounts.
• If you're switching insurance companies, do it in writing. Your credit scores will suffer if you're canceled for nonpayment.

Control yourself

Your behavior on and off the road has a bearing on your rates.

• Pay all bills on time. Your premiums are based in part on your credit scores or an insurance risk score based on your credit reports. TransUnion's TrueCredit will provide your auto insurance risk score for $9.95.
• Drive defensively, and avoid distractions such as text messaging or talking on a cell phone. One speeding ticket may not raise your rates, but an accident you caused probably would -- generally by 40% of the company's base rate.
• Don't drink and drive.
• Don't lend out your car. If your friend wrecks it, your rates will go up. If your uninsured friend wrecks your car, you'll be liable for claims exceeding your policy.

The type of vehicle you drive affects your rates.

• Check the cost of insuring that sports car before you buy it. You'll pay higher premiums for a vehicle with higher collision-damage costs or that's attractive to thieves. Use MSN Money's comparison tool. And no, it doesn't cost more to insure a red car.
• High-tech items are more expensive to replace after a crash.

The deal on discounts

Factors such as age, how much you drive, where you live and, sometimes, what you do for a living affect insurance premiums. You can take some steps to get a better rate.

• If you get married, you'll get a discount and benefit from combining policies.
• People 55 and older get a discount for taking a driving class.
• Adding your newly licensed teen to your policy will increase your premiums 50% to 200%. One way to reduce costs: Buy a beater and list your child as the driver. Teen drivers can get discounts for drivers ed courses or good grades.
• You may get a discount if your child attends college away from home.

If you wreck your car

If you've been in a collision, tell your insurance company for your own protection, even if injuries are not readily apparent. Informing the company doesn't mean you're filing a claim.

• If you disagree with the value assigned to your totaled vehicle, provide quotes from local dealers and proof that your vehicle was well-maintained. Still unsatisfied? Your options are mediation, arbitration and, finally, a lawsuit.
• Twenty-eight states require insurance companies to pay the sales tax on a replacement vehicle, based on the settlement value of your totaled car. Request it, as well as registration and title fees, wherever you live.
• In 14 states you can get payment for the "diminished value" of your damaged car.
• If the driver at fault in a crash is uninsured, consider "stacking" or collecting on all of your policies that have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to fully cover the damage, unless state law prohibits it.
• Body shops may be tempted to cut corners to meet insurance companies' pricing requirements. Check Assured Performance Collision Care for qualified repair shops.
• If you cause an accident, does your policy require you to pay the difference between generic and original-equipment manufacturer parts? If someone else caused the accident, request original-equipment parts for your repairs.[ .msn.com ]

READ MORE - Guide To Car Insurance

Regaining Control Of Your Own Health And Comfort

Regaining Control Of Your Own Health And Comfort. With more than one in five American adults currently diagnosed with the condition, arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States today. But joint and arthritic pain don't have to bring your life to a standstill.

In addition to the treatments recommended by your doctor — which commonly include dieting and exercising — there are several short-term measures you can take to manage pain, reduce inflammation and slow down joint damage. Here are six self-help tips to aid you in regaining control of your own health and comfort.

Take a warm shower

The humidity, heat and soothing flow of water on the body can relieve stiffness and encourage more comfortable movement of your joints. Experts often recommend a warm shower in the morning for arthritis patients, since the body may feel particularly inflexible after remaining still over the course of a night's sleep.

Get in the pool!

Exercises such as jogging and even isometrics are usually not recommended since they increase impact and pressure on painful joints. Swimming, however, can be excellent for those with knee and hip disease. The body's natural buoyancy leaves no weight on the joints, and your motion in the pool is facilitated by the water's gentle assistance.

Stretch while seated

Periods of inactivity, such as being seated for a long performance or an extended family meal, can lead to uncomfortable stiffness. Adjust your position often: Shift your weight, turn your head from side to side, allow your legs to bend and stretch. Gentle stretches can relieve soreness and help prevent that rigid feeling in your joints.

Use heat or cold treatments

If you're wondering whether heat or cold is good for addressing arthritic pain, the answer is that both can be effective. Warming treatments can relax your muscles; you can use either dry or moist heat. One nice trick is to warm up clothes in a dryer before putting them on. Cold treatments, such as applying a cold pack or a bag of frozen vegetables to a sore area, can bring relief by numbing the area and reducing the swelling caused by a flare-up.

Incidentally, some topical creams known by physicians as counterirritants contain ingredients like menthol and eucalyptus oil, which make the skin feel hot or cold. They don't actually do anything to help your joints, but the temperature change on your skin can temporarily distract you from arthritic pain.

Brace against pain with a splint

Ask your doctor about using a splint to support painful joints. Like a cast around a broken bone, temporary splints can give swollen joints a rest so that inflammation can subside. Splints for the wrist and hand are common, but they're also available for ankles and feet.

Turn pain relief into a social activity

Health experts have found that arthritis sufferers who add an enjoyable social component to their self-help regimens are more likely to maintain good habits for a longer time. There are some 46 million Americans currently diagnosed with arthritis — including half the population aged 65 or older — so you're not alone! One option is to find a local chapter of the Arthritis Foundationand join a self-help program. Also, ask your physician how getting your spouse involved can help you improve muscle strength and keep pain in check. [ focusonfeelingbetter ]

" Consult your doctor before making any changes to diet or exercise "

READ MORE - Regaining Control Of Your Own Health And Comfort

Yoga And Meditation Can Help Reduce Stress

Yoga And Meditation Can Help Reduce Stress. We all know there are things we can do to reduce stress and anxiety, such as yoga and meditation — but who has the time? Surprisingly, some of the busiest and most successful people in the world make sure they find the time for the stress busters that work for them.

Sting, for example, practices yoga for an hour to an hour and 45 minutes most days, even when he's on a relentless schedule of touring and publicity. In fact, while on the road for a recent Police reunion tour, the 56-year-old singer reportedly got in an hour of yoga before each show. Yet, in an interview with Yoga Journal in 1995, Sting admitted that when he began his practice, he asked his yoga teacher the same question any busy person would ask: "How on earth am I going to find the time for this?"

Sting told Yoga Journal, "[My teacher] said, 'If you do this practice, you will have more energy to do your other tasks throughout the day.' Time will expand to accommodate the practice, in other words. I have to say that that's true. When I really do my yoga, I have more energy in the day. I get more done. My mind is more composed. There are more benefits to it than I would have thought."

Yoga and meditation can help reduce stress and anxiety and help restore a sense of calm and inner peace. Meditation is a must for talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who says, "I give myself at least 10 minutes every day in some form of meditation. So, just start there, and you will be surprised by the discipline that comes from doing it on a regular basis, how your life begins to unfold for you differently." She adds, "If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race."

Sheryl Crow began meditating when she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in 2006. She told WebMD the Magazine in May 2009 that meditation helped her through the rough first few months following her diagnosis, adding, "As Westerners, we try to stay busy. We say, 'Just don't think about it, get on with things.' But for me, meditating is tantamount to quieting the brain."

While recuperating, Crow discovered that learning to say no was an even more critical stress buster for her. As someone who felt obligated to say yes to every opportunity for her career, Crow says she probably would never have learned when to say no if she hadn't gotten sick: "I know how to say 'no' now, and move on. I listen to my body … and I don't work as hard as I used to. There are certain choices I make." Crow adds, "And I choose quality of life. Every time."

Her cancer scare forced Crow to put her own needs first, something that can be especially challenging for women. This in turn helped her find time in her life to create the family she'd always wanted by adopting her son, Wyatt, in 2007.

Learning when and how to say no will reduce stress in your life, but it's not always easy. Here are some tips to help you do it:
- Check in with yourself before you respond to a request to spend your time or energy. Ask yourself, "How will I feel if I say yes to this?" Do you feel excited and happy? Or can you already feel resentment and irritation building? Be honest with yourself about how you will feel with this new task on your plate.
- If you've realized it's important to your future peace of mind to say no, simply say, "I'm sorry, I just can't take this on right now." This is a gentle yet effective way to short-circuit any begging and pleading.
- If you can send the requester away with the name of someone who might really want to say yes, it's even better — a new mom in the neighborhood who could use a little help getting hooked in, for example, and would welcome the opportunity to be the treasurer of the PTA. [ focusonfeelingbetter ]

" Always consult your doctor before making any changes to diet or exercise "

READ MORE - Yoga And Meditation Can Help Reduce Stress

Stress Can Be Both Positive And Beneficial

Stress Can Be Both Positive And Beneficial. We ordinarily think of stress as a bad thing. It's what you feel after you've lost a job, spouse or friend. Or when you discover you can't make the mortgage next month.

But in small doses, stress can be both positive and beneficial. It can even help us perform better, both mentally and physically. The trick is to understand the difference between "good" stress and stress that can make you ill.

Stress as we now understand it was first defined in scientific terms in the 1930s by a Hungarian-born scientist named Hans Selye. Explaining the phenomenon of what he called the "non-specific response of the body to any demand for change," he actually used two words to define two different kinds of stress. "Distress" was caused by what most of us would call negative stressors (the things that cause stress). But he noted that stress could also be triggered by positive events, such as winning the lottery or getting married. This he called "eustress."

From the body's point of view, both eustress and distress appear essentially the same. Both engage the body's extraordinarily complex "stress response." In a nutshell, here's what happens:

First, the brain registers a need to optimize the body for action. Stressors can come in many forms. You could spot a tiger in your neighbor's yard looking your way and licking its chops. You could be hiking up a steep hill with a heavy pack. Or you could simply think about the consequences of not meeting a deadline for a high-stakes project.

The brain then sends out signals that release hormones — including adrenaline and cortisol — that prime the body to escape from or confront the stressor. Blood pressure and heart rate increase to deliver more blood to the brain and muscles. Another task is to release energy from fat, to fuel the body.

Think of a stress-primed body as a real-life superhero: Memory and other mental abilities are sharper; the heart and muscles are ready to perform at their peak. This is exactly the way you'd like to be, for example, before stepping into a courtroom to argue a big case, while taking an important exam, or when asking someone out.

However, the body can only tolerate the stress response — whether triggered by distress or eustress — for so long before it cries uncle. After a certain point, which varies for each person, fatigue sets in, followed by exhaustion and eventually ill health.

The mystery of how this transition occurs has puzzled scientists for years, though a recent study may have discovered the key. Investigating the cells of rats, scientists found that stress hormones affect how cells are "energized." For a short period of time, stress optimizes the cells' energy levels. But when stress goes on too long, the system breaks down and the cells fail to get sufficient energy, causing weakness and fatigue.

It's another indication that our stress systems were designed to operate only in short bursts. Over the thousands of years of human evolution, the stress response became critical for survival — to escape predators or to pursue prey, for instance. We are wired to function at our peak, physically and mentally, in response to either distress or eustress, whenever the situation demands it.

Unlike the brief survival "emergencies" that shaped the evolution of our stress response on the savannah long ago, modern life creates a barrage of stressors that can tax our bodies far beyond what they were designed to endure. Such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, depression and insomnia can be triggered by a chronically overactive stress system.

If you sense that your stress is chronic, it's time to find ways to change the pattern. On the other hand, short-term stress can vitalize you to do things you didn't think were possible: rescuing a child who's fallen into a raging river, or remembering a key concept during an exam. [ focusonfeelingbetter ]

" Always consult your doctor before making any changes to diet or exercise "

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Out Of Darkness

Out Of Darkness. Britons got their first look Tuesday at the mother behind a horrific child death that shocked the country. The face of 28-year-old Tracey Connelly, who stood by as her infant son Peter was tortured for months on end, stared out from the front pages of Britain’s newspapers under headlines which read: “Unmasked” and “Out of the Darkness.”

Accompanying articles described the hideous abuse suffered by her son at the hands of her boyfriend Steven Barker, a Nazi memorabilia collector who tortured animals and was convicted of raping a 2-year-old girl.

To the sickening details was added the suggestion that Connelly, Barker, and his brother Jason Owen — all three of whom were sentenced for causing or allowing Peter’s death last year — could receive new identities and years of police protection to protect them from an angry public. The Daily Telegraph newspaper estimated such a program might cost the taxpayer 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) a year.

“If either of them is still notorious, then there will clearly be a risk that they may be the subject of a vigilante-style attack,” said Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of Britain’s probation officers’ union, Napo.

In such a case, Fletcher said, “the probation service and police will have no choice but to put in place a protection plan.”

The details of Peter’s death chilled the nation when they were first reported last year. The 17-month-old’s lifeless body was found by paramedics in his blood-spattered cot. He had suffered dozens of injuries, including bruises, fractured ribs, and a broken back. The last, fatal blow to his mouth had knocked out a tooth.

When it emerged that the Peter had been visited some 60 times by doctors, police and social workers before his death, public fury exploded at the child welfare services in the north London borough of Haringey where he lived his short life.

Britain’s tabloid press accused child welfare workers of having blood on their hands, and the anger spilled into the political arena. Tempers flared in Parliament, two top Haringey officials resigned, five more were fired, and two doctors who inspected Peter were suspended.

“I think the whole country shares the outrage,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at the time. Although a court order had banned the publication of the mother’s name and that of her boyfriend, it expired Tuesday.

With the reporting restriction lifted, media were free to publish more grisly details about Connelly and her dysfunctional family. Press accounts described how Connelly shared her filthy home with Barker, 33, Owen, 37, and Owen’s underage runaway girlfriend, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Connelly browsed the Internet for pornography as the Barker brothers — Owen changed his name after Peter’s death to try to insulate himself from the outrage — brutalized her young son. Screams coming from his room were explained by Barker as attempts to “toughen him up.” Barker’s dog Kaiser was allegedly used to terrify Peter — and some marks on the toddler’s head looked like they had been caused by the dog’s teeth.

Details of the brothers’ past record were dredged up: Barker and Owen had been charged with assaulting their grandmother in an attempt to get her to change her will, although the case was dropped in 1996 because she died of pneumonia before it could go to trial. In May, Barker was found guilty of raping a 2-year-old girl. A court order has placed tight limitations on what can be published about that case.

Campaigners said the death had been a wake-up call — and that members of the public were increasingly vigilant about child abuse. Britain’s child protection agency said the number of calls to its telephone help line had increased significantly since Peter’s death. Christine Renouf, the help line’s director, called it “a wake-up call for some people to look out for children.” [ kompas ]

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