Simple home saliva test that tells your risk of going blind

Fragile vision: Until recently there was no way of telling who was predisposed to AMD


An at-home genetic test that predicts the risk of macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness, could motivate thousands of people to take important measures to help preserve their eyesight.


A saliva sample is sent off for analysis to assesses a person's genetic risk of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the UK, which affects more than half-amillion people.

Depending on the result, the patient can then undertake lifestyle and dietary changes that have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of developing the disease.

AMD occurs when the macula - the central part of the retina that sends fine, detailed images to the brain - begins to break down. Despite medication, the disease is progressive, with half of all sufferers being registered as partially sighted or blind.

Unfortunately, it has few early symptoms, and by the time it is diagnosed there is often already permanent visual damage.

While 75 to 85 per cent of AMD cases can be traced to genes inherited by family members, until recently there was no way of determining who might carry those genes.
Thanks to the new test, which has been shown to be 100 per cent accurate at detecting high-risk genes for AMD, such an assessment is now possible.

The at-home test, which costs £399, consists of a small test-tube where a saliva sample can be deposited. The test-tube is then sealed and sent in a prepaid envelope to a lab for genetic testing and analysis.

'The test assesses six genes and eight genetic markers that have been linked to a raised risk of AMD,' says Tim Clove, chief executive of Optegra, a company specialising in ophthalmology who have launched the test.

'By assessing these genes, we can give a personalised interpretation of genetic risk.'

The patient receives a full report within 14 days and, if deemed to be at risk of developing the disease, they will be contacted by a genetic counsellor for a free consultation.

The test, says Tim Clove, means that anyone who is concerned about a family member or themselves can be analysed for AMD risk.

'This test is especially useful if you have relatives with AMD. Then you can discover if you have inherited high-risk genes and take action. You can lose weight, stop smoking and boost the fruit and vegetable content of your diet - all factors that can reduce AMD risk significantly,' says Tim.

'Vitally, you'll be able to go for regular scans that can pick up any signs of AMD at the earliest stage, when drug treatments are more effective and loss of vision can be significantly reduced.'

Professor Andrew Lotery, professor of ophthalmology specialising in macular disease at Southampton General Hospital, welcomes the test but warns about its accuracy.

'Genetic testing for macular disease is a useful advance,' he says. 'An Australian colleague found he was predisposed to MD because of a genetic test. He is now taking extra vitamins to reduce his risk, so it can be very motivating.

'However, some people can have high-risk genes for macular degeneration and never develop the disease,' he adds. 'In these cases, genetic testing would cause unnecessary worry.'

In those deemed high-risk, lifestyle changes might still not be enough to prevent blindness.

'You could eat a healthier diet or follow a better lifestyle but it still might not be enough to prevent AMD,' says Cathy Yelf, of the Macular Disease Society.

'This kind of test will be much more useful once we have gene therapies or stemcell treatments that could do something definite in response to the results.'
• For further information about the test, visit www.optegra.com.


Easier diabetes checks are here tooChecking blood glucose levels is an integral part of diabetes management. And now monitoring is simpler thanks to an innovative digital meter, launched by Roche.

The Accu-Check Mobile is the first monitor not to use test strips. Instead, the device contains a cassette that allows users to carry out up to 50 tests on a continuous

tape. The Mobile is larger than previous monitors - about the size of mobile phone - but features an integrated fingerpricker so no additional kit is required.
Test cassettes are available on prescription.

Accu-Chek Mobile Blood Glucose Monitor is available from www.boots.com at £49.99.



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Home fertility tests for men: New device reveals if sperm count is low

Sperm attempts to enter an egg. The new test will measure sperm levels by detecting a specific molecule


Home fertility tests aren't just for women anymore. A new device that checks a man's sperm count is soon to go on sale in the UK.

The test, which targets couples who are struggling to conceive, is currently undergoing a review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S.

Dr John Herr of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who helped develop the test, said it would suit those couples who have tried to get pregnant for a few months but aren't ready to seek professional help yet.

He said the test would tell the couple if the man had fertility problems 'in privacy with some cost savings.'

'The product will retail for about $25 (£15). That's a lot cheaper than going in and having a full semen analysis,' he said.

Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, Dr Herr and his team reported that their SpermCheck Fertility test was accurate 96 per cent of the time, when compared with standard lab methods. They tested 225 samples during the study.


The SpermCheck test is expected to go on sale for around £15


Sperm counts of 20 million per millilitre of semen and above are considered normal and a test will tell if a man's sperm count meets this level and if he has a severely low sperm count of below five million sperm per millilitre.

'It basically tells the man how deep the infertility is,' Dr Herr said.

'If both strips are negative it's important that they then seek medical treatment for the infertility.'

The test works by detecting an antigen found on the surface of the head of a sperm cell known as SP-10.

It took 10 years to develop and much of the work was funded by the National Institutes of Health.


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'Indecent exposure': Fury of mother, 25, thrown off bus and forced to get taxi for breastfeeding

By Luke Salkeld

Amy Wootten is 'humiliated' after being ordered off a Number 54 bus for breastfeeding her daughter Emily


A mother was accused of indecent exposure and thrown off a bus after breastfeeding her six-week-old baby.

Amy Wootten, 25, was travelling home when the driver stopped the bus and told her to stop feeding her daughter Emily.

When she objected, he threatened to call the police. He said another passenger had made a complaint about her behaviour and then ordered her out on to the pavement in the rain.

Miss Wootten got off and was forced to take a taxi for the rest of her journey home, which cost her £8.

Yesterday, the learning support assistant said the experience had left her 'utterly humiliated'.

She said: 'The driver told me someone had said I was indecently exposing myself and said, "Stop or get off my bus".

'It was like he was suggesting I was doing horrendous things. But I was being quite discreet about it.'

She continued: 'I couldn't believe it. I explained that I was only feeding my baby and not exposing myself and he told me to stop or he would call the police.

'The driver then said, "Can you get off my bus please". We were told to get off in the rain at a stop without a shelter.

'I was still a 20-minute bus ride away and couldn't have walked home. I felt completely and utterly humiliated because it was a packed bus.'


A First bus in Bristol similar to the one from which Amy was ordered off. After she complained to the company, the firm apologised and sent her flowers and gift vouchers


Miss Wootten, who cannot drive, had been to a breastfeeding support group and was travelling from the centre of Bristol to her home in the Stockwood area of the city when she was ordered off the Number 54 bus on Tuesday.

She has fed Emily, her first child, on buses several times before without complaints.

'If I hadn't fed her, Emily would have screamed and we would probably have had more complaints from people on the bus,' said Miss Wootten, who lives with her partner.

'I was showing a tiny bit of breast. I was absolutely horrified but more cross for my baby girl.'

After receiving a complaint from Miss Wootten about her treatment on its bus, Bristol First bus company apologised and sent her flowers and gift vouchers.

Spokesman Karen Baxter said the company would be giving guidance to drivers to prevent similar situations.

She said: 'We deeply regret the incident which was caused by one driver's actions and we have expressed our sincere apologies to Ms Wootten for the distress caused.

'We accept that breastfeeding mothers have the right to feed their children when they are hungry, and understand that it may be necessary to do this on the bus.'


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Looking at curvy women 'gives men the same high as alcohol or drugs'

By Fiona Macrae

Singers Beyonce Knowles and Christina Hendricks are both known for their curves. A new study has revealed why men find their shapes so attractive


For millions of women fretting about their weight the news will be a huge relief, men prefer a curvier figure.

Not only that, the effect on the male brain of a shapely woman is, apparently, comparable with that of beer and brandy.

According to research, figures such as Beyonce's also light up the male brain in the same way as illegal drugs

Acknowledging that the findings were not groundbreaking, Dr Steven Platek reckoned: 'Hugh Hefner could have told us that by showing us how many zeroes are in his bank account.

'But there is more to it than buying Playboy, Maxim or FHM.

'The caucasian, westernised female has somehow been duped into thinking men like very skinny, waify, Kate Moss-type girls. Curviness is the trump card. It's worth it's reproductive weight in gold.


Original pin-up: Marilyn Monroe was one of the first on the silver screen to champion the hour-glass figure


'This research explains things like sexual harassment and whistling at the hot girl in the street.

'These findings could help further our understanding of pornography addiction and related disorders and lend to the scientific inquiry about infidelity.'

Researchers in Georgia, in the U.S., scanned the brains of 14 young men as they looked at before and after pictures of nude women who had plastic surgery to give them more shapely hips and bottoms.

The operations didn't reduce their weight, just redistributed it, the journal PLoS ONE reports.

Seeing the post-operative shots excited the brain's 'reward centres' - regions more usually activated by drink and drugs.

High waist to hip ratios - or hourglass figures - proved particularly stimulating.
Dr Platek, of Georgia Gwinnett College, said this could be because wide hips have long been linked with good health - and the ability to carry healthy babies.

However, altering a woman's weight only lit up areas involved in simple visual evaluations of research and shape.

The study is one of several recently to offer hope to Miss Average. In December scientists announced that men don't hanker after women whose legs go forever.

And last month they said having a big bottom is good for health.


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World first as woman left infertile with cancer has second 'miracle' baby

By Fiona Macrae

Medical marvel: Stinne Bergholdt with her daughters Aviaja (L) and Lucca. She was left infertile by cancer but had tiny strips of ovarian tissue grafted back into her body. She then conceived, first using fertility drugs and then naturally


A woman left infertile by cancer has had a 'miracle' second baby in a world first.

Stinne Bergholdt froze tiny strips of ovarian tissue before undergoing gruelling treatment for bone cancer in 2004.

After beating the disease, some of the pieces were grafted back into her body and with the help of fertility drugs she gave birth to a baby girl, Aviaja, in 2007.

But it has emerged that she then fell pregnant again naturally, and has given birth to a second daughter, Lucca.

She is the first woman in the world to have two babies following the complex transplant.

The technique may keep eggs fresh for up to 40 years, the journal Human Reproduction reports.

But although Mrs Bergholdt went through the menopause early following her cancer treatment, medical experts strongly warned against women using the procedure to put off the menopause indefinitely.

Dr Allan Pacey, a University of Sheffield fertility expert, said: 'Noone in their right mind would do that.

'It's too dangerous and too involved.'


Stinne with her youngest child, Lucca, who she described as a 'miracle'


But he predicted that the technique would play a bigger and bigger role in helping women undergoing cancer therapy have a family.

Mrs Bergholdt, 32, of Odense in Denmark, gave birth for the second time in September 2008, but the success has only just been made public.

She said: 'When I found out I was pregnant for the first time I was of course very happy and excited - but also very afraid and sceptical.

'My cancer had been diagnosed very late ... so I also wondered if it was really true that I was completely recovered from it. The second time we hadn't been working on it - we thought we needed assistance like the first time.

'We had an appointment at the fertility outpatient clinic to talk about the possibility of a second baby, but it turned out that I was already pregnant - naturally. It was indeed a miracle.'

Mrs Bergholdt's doctor, Professor Claus Yding Andersen, of the University of Copenhagen, said yesterday: 'This showed that the original transplanted ovarian strips had continued to work for more than four years and that Mrs Bergholdt still has the capacity to conceive and give birth to healthy children.'


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Boy, 8, whose hip condition stopped him from walking makes dramatic recovery... after taking up snowboarding

By James Tozer

Champion snowboarder: Thomas Robinson took up the sport to help tackle a severe hip disorder which made it difficult for him to walk without falling over


He's a little young to feature at the Winter Olympics right now, but snowboard prodigy Thomas Robinson could one day be representing his country against the best in the world.

The eight-year-old took up the sport to help tackle a severe hip disorder which made it difficult for him to walk without falling over.

His mother booked a course of lessons in the hope that it would improve his movement and strengthen his legs, and six months later his progress has been dramatic.

As well as getting about more easily, he has already won medals in national competitions for his age group and has been invited to race in France later this month.

His mother Lynda, 37, said: 'We cannot believe how well Thomas has done given that he used to find it very difficult to walk.

'His walking is so much better now. He's falling over much less. He's also much more confident in himself, he's top of the class at school now.'

Thomas was born with the condition excessive femoral anteversion, a rotation of the thigh bones that causes the feet to turn inwards, resulting in an awkward 'pigeon-toed' gait.

The childhood condition was historically treated with braces, casts and special shoes, but usually resolves itself without medical help as the child grows.

However Thomas continued to struggle with his walking, while riding a bike or playing football were almost impossible.

'As a child he had real difficulty walking,' said his mother, who is single and has two other children, Benjamin, 11, and Charlotte-Rene, ten.

'He was always tripping and falling over. He used to get told off in school because the teachers thought he was messing about.

'He was also dangerous near the road, we couldn't leave him alone.'


Thomas' mother Lynda booked a course of snowboarding lessons in the hope that it would improve his movement and strengthen his legs


Thomas's mother, of Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, was faced with the prospect of major surgery to cut and untwist his femur.

'We looked at all the options including sending him to America for surgery, but we were just too scared as the risks of paralysis were so high,' she said.

'I don't believe in braces and callipers and things like that, they would have left him walking like a robot.'

After learning of the possible benefits of snowboarding, she booked him a course of lessons at the Chill Factore indoor snow dome near Manchester.

While his ability to control his legs progressed rapidly, he also quickly showed himself a natural on the slopes.

At the Mini-Brits dry slope national championships, Thomas earned a bronze and silver medal, and he recently won an audition to compete in the Quiksilver Roxy Radar championships in France.

His instructor, Adam Kelly, said: 'This is fantastic news and I'm really proud that Thomas' hard work and dedication has paid off.

'He's a well-known character here, regularly attending our freestyle nights and training with the other young skiers and snowboarders here. We're all rooting for him to do well.'

Deborah Eastwood, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said snowboarding helped children with the condition to control their feet better.

'We often recommend ballet dancing classes to girls for the same reason, but snowboarding may appeal more to some boys,' she said.

'By keeping their feet straight, or pointing slightly outwards, it helps them control their position while working on the range of movement at the hips.

'That in turn can help by stretching muscles and encouraging suppleness.

'Most children grow out of this condition, but physical activity like this can be a great help to those who continue to have a tendency to trip and fall.'


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Flightless mosquitoes bred to fight malaria and dengue fever

The scientists altered the blood-sucking insects' genes to disrupt development of their wing muscles.


Mosquitoes have been genetically engineered so they cannot fly, in an effort to stop diseases such as malaria and dengue fever from spreading.

British scientists said mixing lame females with the native mosquito population could suppress the disease-spreading insects within nine months.

The team from UK biotechnology firm Oxitec, have concentrated on mosquitoes that carry dengue fever. There are an estimated 50 million cases of dengue fever each year with two-fifths of the world's population risk.

The disease, which causes severe flu-like symptoms and can kill, is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. There is no vaccine or treatment for dengue fever.

The scientists altered the blood-sucking insects' genes to disrupt development of their wing muscles.

The genetic modification grounded only the virus-carrying females and did not affect the males' ability to fly, they wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The idea would be to distribute tens of thousands of eggs that would hatch out these genetically modified males, that would proceed to create a new generation of flightless, and thus doomed, daughters.

'This could be the first in a new wave of products that might supplant insecticides,' researcher Anthony James from the University of California, who also worked on the research.


Tony Blair holds a mosquito net to demonstrate how it can prevent malaria in Nigeria. There is no cure for malaria and dengue fever


Study leader Luke Alphey said using genetically modified mosquitoes would be an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical insecticides and would be egalitarian.

He added: 'The technology is completely species-specific, as the released males will mate only with females of the same species.'

Both Oxitec and Oxford University have applied for a patent.

The current work is focused on mosquitoes that carry dengue fever, but the researchers said it could be adapted to other species that spread malaria and West Nile fever.


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The great sleep myth: It ISN'T true we need less as we get older, say scientists

By David Derbyshire

Older people need just as much sleep, but are less likely to have a restful night, according to a new study

The idea that we need less sleep as we get older is a myth, according to researchers.

A study has found that the middle aged and elderly need just as much as the young if they want to keep a clear head the next day.

However, they are more likely to suffer from an interrupted night's sleep because of health problems - forcing them to adapt by catnapping, or coping with tiredness in the day, the research showed.

The findings contradict the long established belief that the amount of sleep we need falls as we approach middle and old age.

Dr Sean Drummond, a psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, said: 'It's a fallacy. The quantity of sleep that we need does not go down as we age, but the ability to sleep in one chunk does get lost.'

According to the sleep researchers, most people need between seven and nine hours every day.

One in 20 needs more than nine hours, while one in 50 can cope happily on fewer than six hours.

Dr Drummond tested the impact of sleep on 62 volunteers in the laboratory.

They included a group of young people, with an average age of 27, and a set with an average age of 68. Both groups spent two nights in the lab as scientists monitored their sleep patterns.

On the second day they were asked to memorise a list of words while their brains were monitored to see how efficiently they were working.

Dr Drummond, who reported his findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Diego, found that the performance of both groups was strongly linked to the previous night's sleep.

However, for the older group, it was the amount of sleep they got that had a 'significant influence' on brain function the following day, Dr Drummond found.

'The more sleep last night, the more efficient brain function is today and the better they are able to learn and remember new material,' he said.

'Whereas in young adults, the amount of sleep they get isn't so important.'

What matters more is that sleep is consolidated into a solid chunk, allowing the brain to act as 'a dry sponge, ready to absorb and learn new information'.

Dr Drummond said older people need as much time in bed as the young but often they simply get used to having less.

'The biggest, most common, most robust change is that we spend more time awake in the middle of the night as we get older,' he added.



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What losing an hour's sleep really does to your children

By Po Brosnan and Ashley Merryman

Research shows that half of all pre-teens are getting less than seven hours of sleep a night


How many hours' sleep does your child get a night? However much it is, it's likely to be less than you had as a child.

While many parents - thanks to baby gurus - obsess about babies' sleep, this tails off after the nursery years.

The result is that modern children, from primary school age right up to secondary, get on average an hour less sleep each night than they did 30 years ago.

Research suggests that half of all pre-teens get less than seven hours' sleep on weekday nights, and only slightly more than six hours when they reach secondary school.

Why is this happening? The common 21st-century afflictions: over-scheduling of activities, burdensome homework, lax bedtimes and TVs and mobile phones in the bedroom.

Plus parental guilt: home from work late, wanting time with the children, reluctant to play the tyrant by ordering them to bed.

Until now, we could ignore the lost hour - if we were even aware it existed - because we did not know its true cost to children. But using newly developed technological and statistical tools, sleep scientists have been able to isolate and measure its impact.

Because children's brains are a work in progress until the age of 21, and much of that work is done while asleep, this lost hour appears to have an impact on children it simply doesn't have on adults.

The surprise is not merely that sleep matters - but how much it matters. Not just to academic performance and emotional stability, but to seemingly unrelated phenomena, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of attention deficit disorder.

Some scientists claim sleep problems during formative years can cause permanent changes in brain structure. It's even possible that many of the hallmark characteristics of being a teenager - moodiness, depression and binge drinking - are symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.


scientists claim lack of sleep can dramatically affect the brain in the future


A few years ago, Dr Avi Sadeh at Tel Aviv University sent 77 third and fifth year pupils home with instructions to go to bed earlier or stay up later for three nights.

Each child was given an actigraph - a wristwatch-like device that allowed researchers to see how much sleep they were getting.

The team found that the first group managed to get 30 minutes more sleep a night. The other group got 31 minutes less.

After the third night, a researcher tested the children using a computerised version of an IQ test.

Dr Sadeh discovered that a slightly sleepy fifth former performed in class like a third-former - the loss of just one hour's sleep is equivalent to the loss of two years of cognitive maturation and development.

Dr Sadeh's findings are consistent with other researchers' work - which point to the academic consequences of small sleep differences.

With the benefit of MRI scans, researchers are starting to understand exactly how sleep loss impairs a child's brain.

Tired children can't remember what they just learned, for instance, because their brain cells lose their 'plasticity', becoming incapable of forming new connections necessary to encode a memory.

A different mechanism causes children to be inattentive in class. Sleep loss debilitates the body's ability to extract glucose from the bloodstream.
Without this, one part of the brain suffers more than the rest - the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for what's known as Executive Function - orchestrating your thoughts to fulfil a goal and perceiving the consequences of your actions.
A tired brain gets stuck on a wrong answer and can't come up with a more creative solution, repeatedly returning to the answer it already knows is wrong.
Both these mechanisms weaken a child's capacity to learn during the day. But the most exciting science concerns what the brain is up to when a child is asleep.


A child's capacity to learn at school is vastly diminished if they are tired


Dr Matthew Walker, an academic from California, explains that during sleep the brain shifts what it learned that day to more efficient storage regions of the brain. Each stage of sleep plays its own unique role in capturing memories.

For example, studying a foreign language requires learning vocabulary, remembering new sounds and motor skills to enunciate the new word. The vocabulary is processed by one area of the brain early in the night during slow-wave sleep, a deep slumber without dreams.

Meanwhile, memories that are emotionally laden get processed during REM, or dreaming sleep.

Children's sleep is different in terms of its quality from adult sleep because they spend more than 40 per cent of it in slowwave stage (adults spend just
This is why a good night's sleep is so important to children for long-term learning.

But perhaps most fascinating is the way emotions associated with a memory affect where it gets processed.

Negative memories get processed by one area of the brain, the amygdala; positive or neutral memories get processed by another, the hippocampus.

Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet remember gloomy memories very well.

And what of the hidden role sleep plays in the obesity epidemic?

In the past three decades, childhood obesity has tripled. For a long time, we all focused on one culprit - television.

The connection to obesity seemed so obvious that few people thought it even needed to be supported scientifically.

But here's the fascinating thing: researcher Elizabeth Vandewater at the University of Texas found that obese children watch no more TV than thin children.

In fact, while obesity has increased exponentially since the Seventies, children watch only seven more minutes of TV a day.

While they do average a half-hour of video games and internet surfing on top of television viewing, the leap in obesity began in 1980, before home video games and the invention of the web.

So something other than television is making children fatter.

Five years ago, already aware of an association between sleep apnoea and diabetes, Dr Eve Van Cauter, a sleep researcher, discovered a ' neuroendocrine cascade' that links sleep to obesity.

Sleep loss increases the hormone ghrelin, which signals hunger, and reduces leptin, which suppresses appetite. It also elevates the stress hormone cortisol, which stimulates your body to make fat.

Human growth hormone is also disrupted - normally secreted as a single big pulse at the beginning of sleep, it is essential for the breakdown of fat.

It's drilled into us that we need to be more active to lose weight. So it confuses us to hear that a key to staying thin is to spend more time doing the most sedentary inactivity humanly possible - sleep. Yet this is what scientists are finding.

All the studies point the same way: children who sleep less are fatter than those who sleep more.

How sleep impacts on hormones is an entirely different way of explaining what makes people fat or thin - we normally think of weight gain as a straightforward calories consumed/calories burned equation. But even by that familiar formula, the relation of sleep to weight makes sense.

While few calories are being burned in bed, at least a child is not eating. In addition, children who don't sleep well are often too tired to exercise. So the net calorie burn after a good night's rest is higher.

Most of us have coped on too little sleep for years and managed to get by. But given this new research, when it comes to our children's developing brains, are we willing to take the risk?

• Extracted from Nurtureshock: Why Everything We Thought About Children Is Wrong by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (Ebury Press, £12.99). © 2010, Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720.


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Claire Sweeney drops two dress sizes and loses a stone after seven-week fitness drive

Before and after: Claire Sweeney has lost a stone in seven weeks and dropped two dress sizes after going on a diet


Claire Sweeney has dropped two dress sizes and got her confidence back after going on a rigorous fitness regime.

The television presenter managed to shed a stone in just seven weeks.
She went from 11st 2lb to 10st (size 12-14 to a 10) after exercising three times a week

Speaking to this week's Closer magazine, who she did the diet with, Claire said: 'My leg is like rock! I’m solid muscle.'

It’s no surprise the glamorous presenter and singer, 38, is so keen to show off her body.
'I haven’t been this toned since I was in Chicago 10 years ago,' says the 5ft 8in star.

'My bum is high and curved, my waist has slimmed right down and my cheekbones are more defined. I wasn’t looking forward to posing in a bikini, but I don’t look too bad!'

Claire, who found fame in TV soap Brookside, had been struggling to get back in shape after appearing in a documentary in which she tried to gain as much weight as possible to highlight the dangers of overeating.

On My Big Fat Diet, which aired just over a year ago, Claire went from 9st 12lb to 11st 10lb. 'The weight gain was so quick,' said Claire, who ditched her healthy lifestyle to indulge in custard slices and burgers.

'I took my foot off the brake and gained 2st in six weeks. But I had a ball doing it!'


Claire pictured in January 2009 in the TV show My Big Fat Diet where she piled on the pounds, showing hear how difficult exercise was with extra weight


Once filming finished, Claire was faced with shedding the extra pounds – and although she initially lost a stone with WeightWatchers and doing weekly sessions with British Military Fitness, her weight loss stalled at 11st 2lb.

'I really loved doing BMF, but the early starts killed me!” she says. At first, being a size 14 didn’t bother the TV presenter as it brought with it an unexpected benefit.

'I’ve never been chatted up so much,' laughs Claire, who is currently single but dating.

'I think there was a softness to me because my confidence had gone, and men found that vulnerability appealing. I remember one guy saying: "You’re glowing." I realised bigger doesn’t mean unattractive.'

Yet as the months went by, she began to long for her old figure. 'Secretly, it was getting me down,' says Claire.

'I felt older and I couldn’t wear 60 per cent of my clothes. I wanted to wear my beautiful Roland Mouret fitted dresses and skinny jeans, but nothing fitted.'

So just after Christmas Claire started working with personal trainer Sarah Williams and embarked on a Closer diet devised by nutritionist Juliette Kellow.

Since then, the actress has been training three times a week in a park near her London home. The hour-long sessions involve a run and then a series of exercises, including squats, jumping jacks and boxing.


The full interview is in Closer magazine


'I hated running, so we built it up slowly and now I can run comfortably for an hour.
'My best tip is to go running with a buddy. Or listen to a book on your iPod. I run to Ozzy Osbourne’s life story!'

'I feel loads better these days,' she says. 'But I find losing weight harder now. If I’d trained this hard five years ago I’d have been a rake by now!'

Not that heading towards 40 worries her. Claire admits having Botox injections to smooth her forehead but won’t have more radical treatments.

'Fillers? No way,' she says firmly. 'I use Crystal Clear facial products and I’ve inherited my mum’s great skin, so hopefully I won’t need to do anything else. I see pictures of myself in my 20s and I think I look better now.'

Claire’s been single since splitting from her long-term partner in 2007. But she jokes that should she decide she wants a child, she has plenty of opportunity, saying: 'I’ve got lots of gay friends who keep offering to father a baby for me!'



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The devilish secret that makes HobNobs so moreish (and plays havoc with your diet)

Just the one... packet! A sugar found in HobNobs tricks the brain into thinking you need more food


Why is it so hard to stop at eating just one biscuit and so easy to finish off the packet?

How is it that one spoonful of ice cream can turn into half the tub?

It might not be just a lack of willpower that’s to blame, but a type of sugar based on one found in fruit.

We tend to think of fruit as healthy, but new research suggests that too much fruit - or the sugar found in fruit - is actually bad for us.

The problem is glucose-fructose syrup.

This is actually corn syrup that has been processed using enzymes to convert its glucose into fructose (or fruit sugar).

This is then mixed with glucose from pure corn syrup. Because it is cheaper than regular cane sugar, glucose-fructose syrup is increasingly being used in processed foods, such as fizzy drinks.

It’s easy to see its appeal from the manufacturer’s point of view - not only is it cheap, but it also helps to keep foods moist, which boosts a product’s shelf life.

It also helps to provide texture to food such as cereal bars and biscuits, making them chewy, and thickens up ice cream and yoghurt drinks.

And it’s not just used in obviously sweet foods - glucose-fructose syrup is also found in lots of products you wouldn’t necessarily imagine contain it, such as cereal.

Often it appears in product ingredients lists as ‘glucose-fructose syrup’, ‘high fructose corn syrup’, or ‘HFCS’, which is the name used by some manufacturers.

The problem is that glucose-fructose seems to trick the brain into thinking you need more food, say experts.

Worse, it can trigger the growth of fat cells around the heart, liver and other vital organs and even cause diabetes, obesity and heart disease, according to a new study.

Because of its health risks, it’s been dubbed the ‘Devil’s candy’ in the U.S. and, in the face of a consumer backlash, some manufacturers have been forced to re-think their product ingredients, returning to sugar.

It’s the fructose part which is being blamed for artificially boosting appetite and the health problems. Fructose gives us confused messages about satiety, explains Dr Carel Le Roux, consultant in metabolic medicine at Imperial College London.

‘When we eat sugar, our body releases insulin which tells the brain that we have had enough to eat.

‘High insulin levels are one of the factors that dampen the appetite,’ he says. ‘
But fructose doesn’t trigger as much of an insulin response as regular sugar, so the brain won’t get the message that you are full.’


'Devil's candy': The sugar, which is based on one found in fruit, is used to bulk up biscuits, pictured, but it can cause diabetes and even heart disease


As well as tricking you into eating more, the syrup has worrying effects on health.
Previous studies have linked fructose with high blood levels of triglycerides - a type of blood fat which, in excess, can increase the risk of heart disease. And there is ongoing research into whether fructose can affect kidney health. Fructose can also affect blood pressure.

A study at Colorado University, in the U.S., looked at more than 4,500 people with no history of hypertension, and found that those who ate or drank more than 74 grams a day of fructose (the same as two-and-a-half sugary drinks) increased their risk of high blood pressure by up to 87 per cent.

In a recent study, scientists at the University of California have found that fruit sugar is more readily turned into fat in the liver than glucose is; this increases your risk of suffering from a fatty liver, which is linked to liver disease and Type 2 diabetes.


The researchers put 16 volunteers on a carefully controlled diet for ten weeks and gave them high levels of fructose.

The volunteers produced new fat cells around their liver, heart and digestive organs, and also showed signs of the kind of abnormalities related to heart disease and diabetes.

A second group went on the same diet, but ate glucose instead of fructose - and they had no such problems.

Although volunteers in both groups gained about the same amount of weight, the researchers predict that the fructose group would have put on more weight in the long term.

This is because fructose, unlike other sugars, ends up in the liver in a relatively unbroken down state; this disrupts the mechanisms that instruct the body whether to store or burn fat.


The problem: The sugar, which thickens ice cream, triggers growth of fat cells around vital organs

Molecular biologist Kimber Stanhope, who led the study, says this is the first evidence that fructose increases heart disease and diabetes independently, and not simply because it has caused weight gain.

‘We didn’t see any of these changes in the people eating glucose,’ he said. Experts believe that the rise in childhood diabetes could be linked to the syrup.

So if fructose is so bad, does this mean we shouldn’t eat fruit?

Fruit is fine in moderation, but don’t greedily eat an entire bunch of grapes, warns Dr Le Roux.

‘Lots of obese patients eat very healthy diets. The problem is that they contain vast amounts of fruit,’ he says. Eating high levels of fructose may not make you feel full and you will crave more fruit and could end up eating huge quantities in one sitting.

Ursula Arens at the British Dietetic Association also warns against drinking too much fruit juice. ‘Treat it with caution, because it’s a very fast way to get not only a lot of fructose but a lot of calories.

‘It’s always better to eat fruit whole if you are concerned about your weight — you can gulp down a large glass of orange juice in seconds, but eating the equivalent of six whole oranges would take ages as you would have to peel them.’

But, even if we keep our fruit and fruit juice intake in check, there’s still the problem of unknowingly eating fructose that has been added to processed foods. So check the label.



source: dailymail

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How to... choose the right bra

By Jane Mulkerrins

Bra basics: Make sure you get measured. 80 per cent of British women wear the wrong size


GET MEASURED

Underwear as outerwear remains a key trend, with Christian Dior and Stella McCartney, among others, championing the look for spring.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to go Lady Gaga - a hint of lingerie is all you need. If you’re going to make a feature of your bra or corset, picking the right style and fabric for your shape, and making sure it fits well, is essential.

Gill Allen, store manager and bra expert from luxury lingerie company Myla, tells you how to support and show off your assets...

An incredible 80 per cent of British women are still wearing the wrong-sized bra, with the most common mistake being a back size that is too big. The support in a bra all comes from the band, so it’s essential to get the correct back size.

If your bra band goes up at the back and the cups dip down, you are most likely wearing a band size too big.

Everyone’s breasts are differently shaped. Get a free in-store fitting by an experienced specialist, who will not just work out your measurements but will be able to help you choose the right cup size and shape, style and fit. Always try a bra on - every style and fabric will look and feel different.

When putting your bra on, tip forward so your breasts sit in the cups better, before rearranging the straps.
KNOW YOUR STYLE
In general, most women suit one of two main styles - either a balcony cup or a plunge bra. If you have quite full breasts, a balcony will probably look best, because it pushes up from underneath.
If your breasts are not so full, plunges work well because they push up from the sides to create a fuller, rounded look.
But there are lots of styles out there to experiment and have fun with. Quarter-cup bras are sold strictly for the bedroom, third-cup bras are great for low-cut dresses, and there are a host of technical-sounding bras now available such as high-apex, which have cups offering more coverage.

Try them all on, and don’t be afraid to ask in-store staff for help.
WHAT IS THE BRA FOR?
Is it for everyday wear, to play sport in, for a special outfit, or to wear in the bedroom?

If it is for a particular outfit, bring that with you when shopping for the bra. Backless dresses are particularly difficult to find the right bra for, but there are plenty of cheats available these days, such as tape and special breast-lifters that act like bras, but don’t have any straps.

Racerback tops are also tricky, but we have bra-clips that convert ordinary bras into racerbacks, so you don’t need to buy a specially-shaped one.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT COLOUR
Don't choose a white bra to go under a white shirt or T-shirt. Stick to nude, or choose a pretty colour or design that can peek through your outfit. The best thing about lingerie is that only you know you have it on - unless you choose to show it off.

There are no rules any more in lingerie, and visible bra straps (and bras) are absolutely fine as long as they are pretty enough.

Of course, you probably still wouldn’t go to an ultra-conservative function with your bra or straps on show.

WHAT NOT TO WIRE
If you're an A or a B cup and want to wear a soft, non-wired, trianglestyle bra, you can probably get away with it, as long as it is comfortable.

However, for anyone above a B cup, it is hard to get a good shape in a bra and underclothes without the help of underwiring.

There are so many old-wives tales about the dangers of underwiring, but they are not true. As long as a bra fits well, it won’t cause you any problems.

The cups should fit so that they are not sitting on your soft tissue, and the wire should never dig in.


UNDERWEAR AS OUTERWEAR

Lady GaGa might happily strut around town in just her knickers, but you probably want to start with a more subtle take on the popular underwearasouterwear trend. Try a sheer (but not too sheer) chiffon shirt over a beautiful silk bra with pretty strap details; or a wrap dress loosely open at the top with a basque peeking out from underneath.

Camisoles that can double up as outerwear look sexy and delicate, while corsets are extremely popular this year and look fantastic on every woman.

Be careful what you wear them with, though — the look you want is feminine and classy, so teaming them with fishnets is not advisable.

A popular way to wear a corset is with jeans and heels, which tones it down while still being sexy.

The most vital element of the look is confidence. If you don’t feel empowered and confident, that will come across — and you’d be better off keeping your underwear under wraps.

• Go to Myla.com for a great selection of bras and luxury lingerie.


source: dailymail

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Cure for deadly peanut allergy as doctors say major breakthrough could be used to tackle other reactions

By David Derbyshire

Michael Frost aged 9 has been nut allergy de-sensitized


A permanent cure for deadly nut allergies could be less than three years away, British doctors said yesterday.

In a breakthrough that offers hope to hundreds of thousands of sufferers, researchers say they have 'effectively cured' 21 children of the dangerous condition.

They are so confident of the treatment - which uses tiny doses of peanut flour to build up a child's resistance to the food - they are starting a £1million clinical trial on more than 100 children.

The researchers also say the same therapy could be used on other allergies - such as milk and egg.

One child in 50 in Britain suffers from peanut allergy and the numbers are rising fast. Reactions can range from mild itching and rashes to dangerous swelling of the airways, breathing problems and severe asthma.

On average seven children die from it each every year. It is the most common serious allergic reaction, affecting around 450,000 people.

The pioneering treatment was developed at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, where it was tested on 23 children between seven and 17. All but two have been 'cured'.
The children were given a daily dose of peanut flour, mixed with yoghurt, to build up their tolerance.

At the start of the trial, they were given the equivalent of one 400th of a peanut each day - far below the level needed to spark an allergic reaction.

Every day the dose was increased until they were able to consume the equivalent of five peanuts. Some children were able to safely eat 12 nuts.

Dr Andrew Clark, leading the research, said the peanut flour was 'retraining' the children's faulty immune systems.

He said: 'The families say that it's changed their lives. That's our real motivation - to try to develop that as a clinical treatment that we could spread to the rest of the country.


Researchers say they have 'effectively cured' 21 children of the dangerous condition


'And It's not going to stop at peanuts. There's no scientific reason why it won't work with other foods.'

Although the children were effectively cured, many suffered mild side effects, including itches and stomach aches. A few also had rashes and wheezing. The side effects were treated with antihistamine drugs.

The new trial, being funded by the Department of Health, will compare the effects of peanut flour to a harmless placebo in 104 allergic children.

Dr Clark said: 'This is going to be the largest trial of its kind in the world and it should give us a definitive idea of whether it works and whether it's safe.'

The children have already been recruited and treatment starts next month, he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science's conference in San Diego, California.

Dr Clark added: 'I think in two or three years time we will be in a position where we have a treatment that works, but we are still working on a long-term cure.'

He warned parents of nut allergy children not to try retraining their immune systems at home, however. Giving them peanut flour could be dangerous outside a hospital.

Doctors are baffled by the rise in peanut and other allergies. Some experts believe the cleanliness of modern homes - and the fact that children spend little time outside being exposed to dirt and germs - means immune systems are not developing properly.

For Michael Frost's parents, every day brought the terrible fear that peanuts could claim their son's life.

He had a severe form of the nut allergy and doctors warned that just a tiny amount in his diet could have serious consequences.

But thanks to the Cambridge trial, the tenyearold can now eat the equivalent of 12 peanuts without any reaction at all.

His mother Kate, 45, said: 'A peanut allergy affects the whole family.

'You can't go to a restaurant because it's just a minefield. If your child goes to a birthday party, he has to takes a packed tea.

'For so many years, I've had a permanent knot of anxiety in my stomach.

'It felt like I was playing Russian roulette with my son's life.

'But suddenly, those feelings of fear are gone.'

Michael, from Flitwick, Bedfordshire, said: 'I can eat lots of Chinese now, which is my favourite, and chocolate.'

He was one of the children helped by doctors at Addenbrooke's hospital.

At the start of the trial, Michael was fed just one 16th of a peanut.

Even such a tiny amount left him with itchy patches all over his body. He also suffered acute sickness.

But he can now lead a relatively normal childhood.



source: dailymail

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Toddler who almost had leg amputated after developing tumour plays football for the first time

Arthur Kingham plays football for the first time after a massive cancer was removed from his leg


A toddler who was hours from having his leg amputated after it developed a melon-sized tumour has made a miraculous comeback to kick his first football yesterday.

Arthur Kingham, two, began a course of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with a rhabdomyosarcoma tumour on his right leg in May 2009.

But by August the cancer had spread up to his groin, around his hip and into his knee, leaving his right leg grossly deformed by the15in-round tumour.

Fearing the worst surgeons were due to amputate the limb when just 12 hours before the operation doctors found it had begun to respond to treatment.

Leg muscles holding the cancer were removed in November, and following two months recovering in the hospital Arthur has finally been able to show off his skills with both feet.

To the delight of parents nursery nurse Rachel, 35, and sales manager Ben, 34, the tiny Northampton Town fan kicked his first football yesterday at home in Mawsley, Northants.

Arthur and Rachel had previously lived on a six-bed ward at Leicester Royal Infirmary for since it was decided the toddler would need 24-hour care in June.

Throughout his treatment Rachel said she never gave up hope her 'little miracle' would pull through - even when his leg was set to be amputated at the hip in August.

She said: 'We were told he would definitely lose his leg, probably lose his life and we might be coming home to an empty house without him.


Arthur with his mother Helen and the huge tumour on his leg


'When the doctors told us he had a tumour we just felt blind panic and devastation. I think as a parent you are programmed to be scared when you hear the word cancer.

'But we thought let's do it, let's get him better and I think we went into coping mode and battled through the whole nightmare.

'I've given up my job to live with him and have tried to be strong because I didn't want to fall apart and cry all the time because it wouldn't help Arthur.

'But we never gave up hope and now we are home with Arthur and he is alive and has two legs - it's an absolute miracle.

'I desperately want him to be a footballer while his dad wants him to start playing rugby but in all honesty it doesn't matter - as long as he is healthy.'

Arthur was released from hospital on January 16 after walking for the first time on Boxing Day and will now return home to live with his parents next Tuesday.

He has not eaten anything solid since July because the chemotherapy damaged his digestive system but he soon hopes to be able manage 1,500ml of liquid per day.

His father Ben added: 'It's early days but hopefully he has turned a corner and although we can say we have won the battle the war against cancer goes on.

'We were faced with a situation back in August where we were preparing ourselves to live in a three-storey house with a son with one leg.

'We are not there now. Life to us is quite normal but and every we are incredibly thankful for every day he is at home.'

Doctor Emma Ross, a consultant paediatric oncologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said Arthur was just hours having his leg removed at the hip to stop the cancer spreading.

She said: 'As the tumour grew aggressively we were forced to consider removing Arthur's leg which is always a last resort.

'However thankfully when we looked at Arthur just a few hours before the operation - to our relief the tumour had starting shrinking.

'It's wonderful that he didn't need the operation and he is well on the way to beating this very rare form of cancer in children.'

In Britain fewer than 60 children are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma each year and most of them are younger than 10.

It is more common in boys than girls and the tumours develop from muscle or fibrous tissue and can grow in any part of the body.

source: dailymail

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Woman loses FOUR stone in ONE day after doctors find extra weight is undiagnosed cyst

By Lucy Laing

Marie Vickers before her enormous cyst was removed (left) and her dramatic transformation after the operation (right)


These amazing pictures show the day that one woman lost FOUR stone in just ONE day.

Marie Vickers had such an enormous ovarian cyst that she dropped six dress sizes.

Miss Vickers, 27, who lives in Ossett, West Yorkshire, had such an enormous bump caused by the undiagnosed cyst, that strangers asked her if she was pregnant.

Her stomach measured a staggering five foot around in circumference and when she was finally examined by a doctor he announced that she was indeed as big as a mother who was expecting twins.

She had been to the doctor who thought she had been overeating - yet when the enormous cyst was removed, doctors also drained a staggering 26 litres.

Miss Vickers, who works as an outreach worker with deaf people, said: ‘I was sick of everyone thinking I was pregnant.

'When it was finally diagnosed in hospital I couldn’t believe just how big it was. When I stepped on the scales afterwards I’d lost four stone in one day. It was unbelievable


Dramatic transformation: Doctors drained 26litres from an ovarian cyst in a life-saving operation


Miss Vickers started putting on weight two years ago around her stomach area.

She said: ‘The weight had just started to go on my stomach and I couldn’t understand it. Within months my stomach was straining at the waistband of my trousers and bulging over the top.

‘I tried to diet, and whilst the weight started to come off my face and legs, it stubbornly refused to come off my stomach.’

‘Instead it actually started to expand. One morning I even went to the doctors and the receptionist directed me to the ante natal clinic down the corridor.

‘The cashier at the supermarket asked me if I was eating for three after thinking I was pregnant with twins.’

Miss Vickers went to her local GP and told him she had put on weight on her stomach and couldn’t shift it.

He asked her if she was eating too much and told her that she only should be eating 2000 calories a day.

She said: ‘I told him that I was actually eating a lot less than that. I was living on salads to try and lose weight around my waist.’

Her stomach carried on growing and still Miss Vickers had no answers. She was tested for thyroid problems and diabetes, and she had tried joining several slimming groups and even took slimming tablets to try and lose the extra weight.

She said: ‘I was becoming more and more self conscious about it. I was shopping for clothes one day and the shop assistant asked me when my twins were due. It was mortifying.

‘A friend invited me on holiday to Dubai with her in August last year, and I was so embarrassed of showing my bump in a swimming costume.’

But the morning before she was due to fly, Miss Vickers awoke with stabbing pains in her stomach and had to get an emergency appointment at the doctors.


Marie Vickers after her operation. She was frequently asked if she was pregnant before the surgery


The doctor looked at her stomach and referred her to hospital straight away.

Miss Vickers said: ‘He was visibly shocked when he saw the size of my bump. He asked me if I could be pregnant and I said no.

‘He told me I was as big as someone pregnant full term with twins and he referred me to hospital.

‘He said he thought it was an ovarian cyst, which was dangerous as it could rupture at any moment.’

At Pontefract General Infirmary, doctors confirmed that Miss Vickers, who is profoundly deaf, did have an ovarian cyst. By now she was struggling to breathe so they told he they needed to operate.

She was referred to Dewsbury Hospital two weeks later for the operation.

She said: ‘The nurse told me they had never seen a cyst as big as mine before, and when I saw it on the scanning screen I was horrified.

‘My stomach measured a staggering five feet around - and I’d put on five stone in weight with it. I couldn’t even see my own feet.

‘I couldn’t walk more than a few feet without gasping for breath. It was really frightening.’

The operation took one and a half hours and doctors had to drain 26 litres of fluid from the cyst before they could even remove it.

Doctors had to remove her left ovary and fallopian tube in order to get the cyst out, but have told Miss Vickers that she will still be able to have children.

Immediately after the operation she stepped on the scales and discovered she had lost a staggering four stone.

She said: ‘I couldn’t believe that I lost four stone in one day - it was better than any diet I could have been on.

‘Mum took the two pictures of me before and after the operation and its hard to believe they were taken on the same day.

‘I now weigh 14 stone and no one stops me in the supermarket and asks when my twins are due.

‘I just want to warn other young women of ovarian cysts, and to urge anyone with symptoms to get checked out.’



source: dailymail

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Woman who suffered 18 miscarriages finally gives birth to her 'little miracle'

Little miracle: Angie Baker with her daughter, 10-week-old Raiya


After suffering 18 miscarriages, Angie Baker hardly dared hope that her 19th pregnancy would be successful.

But thanks to pioneering treatment, she is a mother at last.

Yesterday, as she cuddled her ten-week-old daughter Raiya, she said: 'She's my little miracle. I can't explain how I feel. I'm overwhelmed. It seems like a dream and I still have to pinch myself. She's perfect in every way


'She's my little miracle': Raiya was finally born on December 9 last year


Miss Baker, 33, from Peacehaven near Brighton, had her miscarriages over 13 years of hoping for a baby. She even discussed the possibility of adoption with her partner, Lee Gibson, a martial arts instructor.

But after the 17th disappointment, a friend read a newspaper article about Dr Hassan Shehata's work at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in Surrey.

Miss Baker was referred to him and a test found she was suffering from a common problem, thought to affect about 15 per cent of women. She had high levels of a subtype of white blood cell, known as Natural Killer (NK) cells, which are responsible for protection from viruses.


Precious moments: Ms Baker said she is revelling in her role. 'I absolutely love it,' she said. 'I can't believe she's here and she's mine'


Because her NK cells were too aggressive, rather than protecting the pregnancy they mistook the foetus for a foreign body and attacked it.

Dr Shehata's treatment, using steroids, is pioneering because it starts before conception and the doses involved are higher than previously used.

However Miss Baker's troubles were not over. She became pregnant for an 18th time but it was then discovered she was diabetic, and the high sugar levels caused by the steroids resulted in another miscarriage

Fortunately Dr Shehata was able to adjust her levels of insulin and the next pregnancy was successful. Raiya was born on December 9, weighing 7lb.

Dr Shehata said: 'The emotion that goes with every miscarriage is huge. Every time it's heartbreaking. A lot of people would give up so it's an amazing story in itself that she persevered.

'She's always smiling and that makes life easier. She's a dream patient.'

Dr Shehata, who sees patients from all over the world, said he had read about only one other case where a woman had had as many as 18 miscarriages before a successful birth. His team usually treats women who have suffered three or four miscarriages.

Dr Shehata said the team of six doctors at the trust has treated about 1,000 patients both on the NHS and privately since beginning the process in 2004 and said his technique resulted in an 80 per cent success rate for women suffering from high NK cell levels.

However he stressed that it would not help all women suffering recurrent miscarriage.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates fertility treatment, advises that there is 'little scientific evidence to show these treatments are beneficial'



Dr Hassan Shehata's pioneering treatment was only available at Epsom Hospital


Ms Baker's stepmother, Janet Nobbs, 46, a bus driver in Brighton, said: 'When she lost the last one after the diabetes even my husband Graham was asking me when I was going to have that all-important talk with her and recommend it's time to give up.

'But I said until we've explored every avenue I'm not prepared to have that talk.

'Angie never ever thought about giving up. She's an extremely private person as well, so the chances are she cried a lot more in private than she did in front of anyone else.

'We still look at Raiya and think "Is this real?"'

Dr Shehata said one in five women will have a miscarriage, one in 25 will have two, one in 100 will have three, one in 600 will have four and one in 15,000 will have five.


source: dailymail

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The secret of our happy family? We banned TV, mobiles and computers

Screen-free: Richard and Miranda Jones with children (from left) Rudi, Theo, Moses, Joshua, Nestor and Sacha


IT IS most children’s idea of living hell – a home where computers, games consoles, television and even mobile phones are banned.

Instead of spending hours in front of a screen, the six children in the Jones family have to fill their spare time by working, reading books, playing and – remarkably – actually talking to people.

Yet somehow they’ve managed to cope.

According to parents Miranda and Richard Jones, both 42, the gadget-free lifestyle change has been a success that has benefited the whole family.

Their social experiment began six years ago when the couple noticed how one of their children was ‘less grumpy’ when he wasn’t allowed to play computer games.

Mrs Jones said: ‘We would go to the seaside and I felt like they were just waiting to get home so they could go and play a computer game.

‘We would have dinner and I felt like it was something they had to do between playing their games.’

So, to the astonishment of friends, the parents gradually instigated a technology ban for all the children.

The games and computer were taken away, mobile phones never bought and initially television was limited.

Three years ago when the family moved to Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
they never installed an aerial so the television became redundant.

Joshua, 17, Sacha, 15, Theo, 13, Rudi, seven, Moses, three, and Nestor, one, are allowed to watch DVDs at weekends and will get a mobile phone when they turn 18.

Mrs Jones, a psychology graduate who manages her husband’s veterinary practice, insists it has worked for everyone.

‘I wanted the children to have a proper childhood,’ she said. ‘They have accepted that spending time on computers and mobile phones is something other kids do and they don’t. Instead they go out more and see friends and have face to face conversations with them.’


Back to the old days: The family home in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where gadgets are banned


Inevitably the couple have come up against opposition. The main problem has been in dealing with schools who believe children need access to the internet at home to research their homework.

But the restrictions have not stopped Joshua being offered a place at Cambridge University.

Mrs Jones said: ‘The schools have moaned at us and implied that we are denying our children something and that hurts.’

She said the children can use computers at school and had books for homework.

She added that fears the children would become alienated from their friends proved unfounded. ‘They’re
more healthy and they’ve turned out to be really popular, sociable children. I was worried that it might make them outcasts if they didn’t know about all the latest TV programmes and games but they’ve been fine.’

She said her teenagers had part-time jobs or homework to keep them busy and also spent time reading and chatting. The younger ones spend hours colouring and ‘getting muddy’.

‘The children will be free to do what they want when they grow up but I can’t imagine they’ll spend all their time glued to a TV or computer. They know there’s more to life,’ she added.

But what of the children? Yesterday-life seemed harmonious enough at half term in the Jones household.

Eldest Joshua was toeing the party line, although he admitted he was getting an iPhone this summer. Commenting on the ban, he said: ‘I think it’s worked very well for my friendships, I actually get to see my friends rather than just talking to them on the internet.

‘It’s not interfered with my school life either because, since I did my GCSEs, I haven’t actually been assigned any online work.

‘I have always found alternatives to doing research online and my parents have been really good with getting us books instead.’



source: dailymail

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Mother's fury as nanny state brands her healthy daughter, 5, 'fat and at risk of heart disease'

By Jaya Narain

Picture of health: Sports-mad Lucy, 5, has been told she risks heart disease


Sports mad, always full of energy and certainly not fat, five-year-old Lucy Davies' parents had no concern about her health.

But when she was examined at school as part of a Government initiative to turn the rising tide of obesity, they were shocked to be told that she was 'overweight and unhealthy.'

They said Lucy may have an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer as her body mass index (BMI) was outside recommended guidelines by just one per cent.

Lucy is 3ft 9ins tall and weighs 3st 9lbs - which is itself within the recommended healthy range for a five-year-old child.

Her mother, Susan Davies, 38, said she was shocked by the letter she and husband Tony were sent about their daughter's weight.

'I couldn't believe what I was reading,' she said.

Lucy is five-years-old and not fat in the slightest. She shouldn't even be thinking about her weight at her age.

'I want her to be running around playing and having fun, not worrying about what she looks like.'

National Child Measurement Programme is being carried out in schools across the UK and results are calculated by taking into account height, weight and age.

Mrs Davies, a mother-of-four from Poole, Dorset, received the letter which said: 'The results suggest your child is overweight.'

It added that this can have 'implications on health and wellbeing' and listed a catalogue of serious medical conditions her daughter may later suffer from.


'At risk': Five-year-old Lucy Davies, pictured with her mother Susan, has been branded 'overweight' by NHS officials, who have written to her parents


A child's is calculated using the same method as for adults - weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared.

Special BMI figures for children are used to determine whether a child is overweight or obese given their age.

In Lucy's case she missed out on being placed in the healthy category by just one percentile point.

Confusingly, separate guidelines tell parents what a healthy weight is for their height.

Last night eating disorder experts condemned the letter saying the new initiative needed to show more common sense.

A spokeswoman for eating disorder charity BEAT said: 'More common sense needs to be applied in these situations. It is really taking things to extremes.

For all the right reasons, they are paying attention to the growing problem of obesity, but some of the messages that are being put out are not necessarily right for young people to be hearing.

'Children at a younger and younger age are becoming aware of their body image and pressures on them to be the ideal image and figure.'


Bizarre: Part of the letter that Lucy brought home for her mother, pointing out that she was 'fat'. The little girl was tested on November 30 last year but her mother was only informed of the results on February 10


Mrs Davies said her daughter was an active young girl who was clearly not obese.

She said: 'Lucy is one of those children who is always on the go - she does ballet, cheerleading and we spend our free time going on family walks and playing outdoors.

'No child of her age should be worried about whether they have a tummy.'

She said the letter illustrated how far the 'nanny state' had intruded into the private lives of families.

Mrs Davies, who is married to 41-year-old financial advisor Tony, said: 'What business is it of theirs? They seem to want us all to be round pegs to fit into round holes.

'If it wasn't all so official, and a nurse who knew the children could ring up the parents for a chat, then it might do more good. But this is a horrible scare tactic.'

A spokeswoman for the Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust, which carried out the tests, stressed the results were aimed at parents and results were not given to children directly.

Dr Adrian Dawson, director of public health at the trust, said: 'We are concerned about the health of our children.

'If they are overweight this will cause many problems for them as they grow older and we need to tackle this head on.

'Parents are the only people who can effect this change in lifestyle through healthy eating, meal time portion control and daily physical activity. It is right that they are aware of the consequences for their children.'


source: dailymail

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The 'cancer risk' of frying steak on a gas hob

Frying meat on a gas hob could increase the risk of cancer, researchers say


Frying meat on a gas hob may increase your risk of cancer, researchers claim.

They found fumes from steak pan-fried on a gas flame contained more cancer-causing particles than those from an electric hob.

Scientists believe hotter gas flames release more harmful chemicals from oil in the cooking process and warn that chefs may be particularly at risk.

Their research follows findings that eating overcooked or burnt red meat increases the risk of tumours due to the creation of carcinogenic compounds called acrylamides.

The latest study simulated a typical Western European restaurant kitchen, frying 17 pieces of steak in either margarine or soya bean oil for 15 minutes on gas and electric hobs.

Experts then examined the fine and ultra-fine particles in fumes produced by the cooking.

Their findings published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded frying with a gas flame increased the exposure to toxic chemicals called mutagenic aldehydes and heterocyclic amines.

These have been judged 'probably carcinogenic' by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It is not yet known what level of exposure to these components is safe, the researchers said.

They believe the higher temperature of gas, compared with electric hobs, leads to more potentially harmful breakdown products from oils. The gas flame may also lead to more ultra-fine particles.

Dangerous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have also been found in cooking fumes from vegetable oils, such as soya bean and rapeseed oils as well as lard. But the authors say levels of PAHs found during this study were below safety thresholds.

The team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in Trondheim, said: 'Exposure to cooking fumes should be reduced as much as possible.'

Their article concluded: 'The measured levels of total particles and PAHs for the cooks in our study are far below Norwegian occupational exposure limits.'

Dr Deborah Jarvis, of the National Heart and Lung Institute, said the study could help shed light on previous research that sought to link frying with gas to breathing problems - such as coughs, infections and asthma - but proved inconclusive.

She added: 'The health message to the public remains the same - keep your kitchen well-ventilated when cooking, and make sure all your gas appliances are well maintained.'


source: dailymail

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