Filed under: In the news

Filed under: In the news

Filed under: In the news

TORONTO - Is smellier-than-usual urine a sign of a urinary tract infection in a young child? A new study suggests perhaps sometimes.

The results aren't a slam-dunk, though. In fact, based on these findings, pediatricians would not urge parents to take a child for care if his or her — mostly her — urine is particularly stinky. (Girls are more likely than boys to have urinary tract infections.)

But the authors say the findings suggest doctors examining children with unexplained fevers should investigate the possibility of urinary tract infections, if the parents report strong smelling urine.

"It should make the clinician more suspicious of this type of infection in a young child with FWS (fever without source)," the authors, from Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre in Montreal, wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

They also suggested it might be useful for a pediatrician who suspects a urinary tract infection in a young child to ask about malodorous urine.

But a pediatric urologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto cautioned against reading too much into the findings, saying the association between foul smelling urine and urinary tract infections isn't terribly strong in this study.

"It's not really a robust conclusion that will really change practice. What it may do — and this is what I'm worried about being published in ... a newspaper — is it may make people seek help for no reason," Dr. Walid Farhat said.

For the study the researchers enrolled children who were brought to Sainte-Justine's emergency department and who were tested for a urinary tract infection. A total of 331 children between the ages of one month and three years old were entered into the study, which ran from July 31, 2009 to April 30, 2011.

Parents were asked a series of questions, some of which were standard for an investigation into a urinary tract infection. They were asked, for instance, if it seemed like their child was having trouble urinating or whether urinating seemed painful for the child.

Among the eight questions were two asking if the parents had noticed their child's urine smelled stronger than normal or offensive.

Only 51 urinary tract infections were diagnosed from among the 331 children.

Of the children with urinary infections, 57 per cent were reported by their parents to have had foul smelling urine. But the parents of 40 per cent of the children with infections did not report noticing unusually smelly urine.

The paper doesn't explain why three per cent of children with infections are not accounted for. Lead author Dr. Marie Gauthier was not available for interview late last week or during the weekend.

Farhat said for a diagnostic test to be useful, it needs a high level of sensitivity — meaning the percentage of positives that are actually true positives. And 57 per cent isn't high enough, he suggested.

Many things can make urine seem more strong smelling than normal, he said, including diet, how well hydrated the child is, and the time of day at which the smell test is conducted. As well, smell is subjective; what is unusual to one nose might not be to another.

In fact, the study notes that parents of 32 per cent of the children who didn't have a urinary tract infection reported their children had foul smelling urine.

BOSTON -- The nation's first full face transplant recipient says he can feel his daughter's kisses now, a year after the procedure.

Dallas Wiens (WEENS) of Fort Worth, Texas, was at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on Monday to follow up with his transplant team. He says he can use his face more than he expected.

His face was burned in 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line while he was standing in a cherry picker. He also was blinded.

Wiens says feeling his daughter's kisses has brought him to tears more than once. He also says he can go out with family and friends and not worry about what anyone thinks.

His doctor says every time the team sees him, Wiens can do and feel more things.

Lip colours may change with the seasons, and brow styles may go from bold to thin, but one look that never goes out of style is flawless skin. And by using the right products and techniques, getting your skin to look as gorgeous as celebrities on the red carpet is within reach. Beau Nelson, New York-based celebrity makeup artist with Page One Management, shares his top tips for achieving a healthy, glowing complexion.

Make Exfoliating An Essential Part Of Your Routine

Sloughing off dead skin cells on a regular basis will help reveal fresh, new glowing skin. Nelson recommends using a scrub at least twice a week. If it’ll help make it a part of your regular routine, "use an exfoliating cleanser in place of your regular one in the shower to save time," he says.

Full story continues below slideshow.

Select The Right Moisturizer

Before you even think about putting a drop of makeup on, you need to hydrate your skin with a good moisturizer. Pay attention to your skin type -- has it evolved over the last few months or years? This is key as you need to choose a moisturizer specific to your skin type, says Nelson. If you have oily skin, look for one that's described as hydrating or providing moisture control, he says. And if you're on the dry side, check for "balm" or "moisture" in its name or description.

Address Your Skin's Age

The foundation Emma Stone uses will not be the same one Kate Winslet uses. "Foundation needs to change as you age because your skin changes," says Nelson. "Young skin can wear virtually any finish including matte without it looking aged, but more mature skin looks best in dewier finishes."

Flawless Skin In A Hurry

Have all of three minutes to get out the door? Your best bet is to use a powder foundation. Although he generally does not care for this product format, Nelson says powder foundations offer easy coverage in a hurry. He finds they can give an unnatural, powdery finish to the skin. "So when I do use them, I spray a hydrating spray over them so they look more like skin than powder," he adds.

Hide Blemishes

Is your smooth, glowing skin marred by an enormous zit that popped up on your chin? Nelson recommends taking a full-coverage concealer (one that matches your skin tone exactly) and using a pointed brush to dab the product on the centre of the pimple. "Blend around it outwards [so it fits] seamlessly with your skin," he says.

Invest Time In Highlighting

Your makeup job for flawless skin doesn't end after applying your foundation. "Highlighting is an extra step, but a worthwhile one," says Nelson. Afraid of over-highlighting and looking greasy-faced rather than dewy? "To avoid looking oily, make sure your T-zone is matte and kept free of any highlighting products -- use them only on the tops of cheekbones, the cupid's bow of lips, the inner corner of eyes and the brow bone," he says.

Get Glowing

If you've slacked off on exfoliating and your skin's looking a little dull, Nelson suggests using a radiance serum. The concentration of brightening ingredients can be a quick instant fix -- this is what he does when models and celebrities show up on set with lacklustre skin.

Minimize Pores

If you find your larger than average pore size is preventing your skin from achieving a flawless finish, then your next beauty purchase needs to be a primer. "Using a primer before applying makeup can really help fill in pores and make them look smaller," says Nelson. Once you've applied your primer, next use a synthetic brush to buff foundation over the face to create a porcelain-like look.

NEW YORK — For years, women have been urged to get screened for breast cancer because the earlier it's found, the better. Now researchers are reporting more evidence suggesting that's not always the case.

A study in Norway estimates that between 15 and 25 percent of breast cancers found by mammograms wouldn't have caused any problems during a woman's lifetime, but these tumors were being treated anyway. Once detected, early tumors are surgically removed and sometimes treated with radiation or chemotherapy because there's no certain way to figure out which ones may be dangerous and which are harmless.

"When you look for cancer early and you look really hard, you find forms that are ultimately never going to bother the patient," said Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, who was not part of the research. "It's a side effect of early diagnosis."

The study is the latest to explore overdiagnosis from routine mammograms – finding tumors that grow so slowly or not at all and that would not have caused symptoms or death. Previous estimates of the problem have varied.

The researchers took advantage of the staggered decade-long introduction of a screening program in Norway, starting in 1996. That allowed them to compare the number of breast cancers in counties where screening was offered with those in areas that didn't yet have the program. Their analysis also included a decade before mammograms were offered.

They estimated that for every 2,500 women offered screening, one death from breast cancer will be prevented but six to 10 women will be overdiagnosed and treated.

Study leader Dr. Mette Kalager and other experts said women need to be better informed about the possibility that mammograms can pick up cancers that will never be life-threatening when they consider getting screened. The dilemma is that doctors don't have a good way of telling which won't be dangerous.

"Once you've decided to undergo mammography screening, you also have to deal with the consequences that you might be overdiagnosed," said Kalager, a breast surgeon at Norway's Telemark Hospital and a visiting scientist at Harvard School of Public Health. "By then, I think, it's too late. You have to get treated."

Kalager and her colleagues looked only at invasive breast cancer. The study did not include DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ – an earlier stage cancer confined to a milk duct.

Under the Norway program, screening was offered every two years to women ages 50 to 69.

Researchers analyzed nearly 40,000 breast cancer cases, including 7,793 that were detected after routine screening began. They estimated that between 1,169 and 1,948 of those women were overdiagnosed and got treatment they didn't need.

Their findings appear in Tuesday's Annals of Internal Medicine.

The problem of overdiagnosis has been long recognized with prostate cancer. Darthmouth's Welch said it's also a problem in thyroid and lung cancer, a childhood tumor called neuroblastoma and even melanoma. He considers breast cancer screening a close call.

"The truth is that we've exaggerated the benefits of screening and we've ignored the harms," he said. "I think we're headed to a place where we realize we need to give women a more balanced message: Mammography helps some people but it leads others to be treated unnecessarily."

An editorial published with the study said overdiagnosis probably occurs more often in the United States because American women often start annual screening at an earlier age and radiologists in the U.S. are more likely to report suspicious findings than those in Europe.

Radiologists could help by raising the threshold for noting abnormalities, wrote Dr. Joann Elmore of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Dr. Suzanne Fletcher of Harvard Medical School.

A "watch-and-wait" approach has been suggested instead of an immediate biopsy, but the editorial writers acknowledge that could be a "tough sell" for some women and radiologists alike.

They said most women aren't aware of the possibility of overdiagnosis.

"We have an ethical responsibility to alert women to this phenomenon," they wrote.

You're not supposed to say anyone's baby is ugly. So what happens when that baby is fake? Then, are you allowed to call it creepy? Moms of Reborns collect and care for dolls that are so lifelike, their owners told MSNBC that they feel comforted holding them. (Non-owners mostly agree they are the stuff of nightmares.)

Becky, a 42-year-old mom of two (real kids), appeared on the "Today" show this morning to talk about her hobby. MSNBC showed footage of Becky carrying Annie, one of her 10 Reborn dolls, in an infant car seat. She said that she only identifies Annie as a doll when people ask. Caring for a Reborn isn't a spoof, Becky insists. "I don't think I'm odd, this is a hobby," she says.

Becky isn't alone. Several hundred hobbyists showed up to a doll convention in Texas in mid February where Reborns -- which can cost anywhere from $50 to $4,000 -- were the hot ticket item, MSNBC reports. "They're not for sale, they're for adoption," one attendee noted. Like Becky, many collectors do have kids of their own. In their 38 Facts About Reborn Dolls round up, Buzzfeed claims that almost all Reborn customers are women.

On "Today," Becky said she started her collection after she couldn't have any more children. She received her first as a Christmas gift and was hooked after that.

Fellow collector, Karen, who has built a nursery for her 28 dolls, says caring for them fills a deep need. "You know that they're not real, but they look real and after your real children grow up you know that you can have something to hold and cuddle and love when you want to," she says. Both women agree that holding a baby, even if they're not real, is therapeutic.

Though Reborns were created in the U.S., collecting them is an international phenomenon. In 2008, the BBC aired a documentary titled "My Fake Baby" that delved into how many women are obsessed with the dolls in the U.K. According to MSNBC, "At least one nursing home in the United Kingdom makes dolls available to female residents, who become calmer and less disruptive when 'caring' for their infants."

What does a chef who is best known for cooking up meals in strange situations and deliberating exposing himself to almost impossible challenges do for his next series? In Bob Blumer's case, he switches to the other side of the table and investigates all the places where food is served up in wacky ways.

Blumer's new show, "World's Weirdest Restaurants," starts this week, airing Wednesdays on Food Network Canada. Showing off the strangest stuff going on in the food industry, the premise seems simple enough, but Blumer found that things aren't always what they seem.

"We looked at hundreds of restaurants, and honestly, our biggest problem was when things just weren't weird enough," he told The Huffington Post Canada. "We need layers. The [orange-shaped] Orange Julep in Montreal, for example, is weird in one sense -- the physical sense -- but it's a one-note weirdness."

With each episode consisting of four separate spots for a total of 52 restaurants, Blumer had a chance to experience plenty of layers, in everything from being served by macaques at a Japanese izakaya ("they don't talk back," the owner quips) to being surrounded by naked people at a pop up nudist restaurant in New York City.

For someone who's used to creating and eating great food, however, he does admit that the tastebuds sometimes need to take a backseat to shock value.

"I live for food, but I was forced to let go of that when we were shooting this -- a lot of the time the food is secondary to the experience,' he says. "But sometimes the environment really helps the food along, like at the prison restaurant in Tokyo. The food was good, but when you’re in a cage and you’re eating chicken in a cage, it all kind of goes together, and in the moment, it seems so much tastier."

Certain areas were rich with weirdness -- they filmed more than 15 restaurants in Tokyo, and Blumer particularly loves Taiwan, where he discovered Modern Toilet, a place where the porcelain throne reigns supreme. But which country was the biggest disappointment for strangeness? None other than Blumer's home and native land.

"Canada just did not have weird restaurants," Blumer said. "We shot two pop ups in Vancouver that were fun, but still on the tamer side. We Canadians do have our weirdness, like Martin Picard's Au Pied de Cochon, but often, it's still just one note."

Check out ten of the weirdest restaurants Bob Blumer visited on his travels -- and check out the show Wednesdays:

A gene that helps beat type 2 diabetes has been discovered in the body's fat cells, according to a group of scientists.

Researchers from the Harvard Medical School in the US, discovered that, contrary to popular belief, fatty adipose tissue can benefit the body's metabolism.

Research showed how the gene, ChREBP, resists diabetes by converting glucose sugar into fatty acids. It also boosts sensitivity to insulin, the vital hormone that regulates blood sugar.

However, in most obese people, sugar is blocked from entering fat cells and blood sugar levels rise. Eventually, this leads to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes, which affects more than two million people in the UK.

Scientists believe the findings could lead to new treatments for diabetes and other metabolic diseases. They add to previous research based on 123 fat samples from non-diabetic people which showed the gene was more active in those whose bodies had a better sugar balance.

The fat gene's activity also correlated with insulin sensitivity in obese, non-diabetic people.

"The general concept of fat as all bad is not true," said lead investigator Dr Mark Herman, from Harvard Medical School in the US.

"Obesity is commonly associated with metabolic dysfunction that puts people at higher risk for diabetes, stroke and heart disease, but there is a large percentage of obese people who are metabolically healthy. We started with a mouse model that disassociates obesity from its adverse effects."

Dr Herman's team tweaked a "glucose transporter" gene in obese mice that serves as a gateway for sugar. Usually, its activity in fat cells drops with obesity.

The scientists found that when they increased glucose transporter levels in obese mice - allowing more sugar into their fat cells - they were protected against diabetes. Conversely, normal weight mice missing the glucose transporter gene developed diabetes symptoms.

The research showed sugar in fat cells triggered a response from the ChREBP gene that regulated insulin sensitivity throughout the body. The findings appear in the online edition of the journal Nature.

This research comes after it was revealed that diabetes complications were at an all-time high.

If you're worried about diabetes, take a look at HuffPost Lifestyle's round-up of foods that help fight type 2 diabetes in women.

A new study from the Mayo Clinic finds an alarming increase in skin cancer among young adults, and the reason may be their persistent efforts to tan.

Spending time on a bicycle seat, which has been linked to erectile dysfunction in men, may also be a hazard to a woman's sexual health, a new study shows.

Pregnant women are spending more time in labour now than 50 years ago, a recent study has discovered.

The research by the National Institutes of Health analysed nearly 140,000 births and compared data on deliveries in the early 1960s up until the early 2000s.

Nearly 40,000 deliveries were investigated between 1959 and 1966, and a further 100,000 births between 2002 and 2008.

They discovered that the early stages of labour (from when the cervix begins to dilate) lasts 2.6 hours longer for modern, first-time mothers compared to their counterparts in the 1960s.

Women who had previously given birth had gone through the early stages of labour two hours longer than those in the 1960s.

Researchers claim that the labour time has changed because of differences in delivery room practices.

For example, the use of epidural anesthesia (the injection of pain killer into the spinal fluid) has increased from 4% in the 1960s to more than 50% of recent births. Anesthesia is known to increase labour times.

The study also focused on how often the hormone oxytocin is given to women in labour. Oxytocin is administered to induce contractions or to speed them up when they slow down and is given to 31% of modern day women compared to 12% of pregnant women in the 1960s.

Although oxytocin is effectively designed to speed up the labour process, research suggests that it makes little, or no, difference to the length of time women spend in labour.

Another difference in birth practices that the study noted included the faded popularity of episiotomy (where a surgical incision is made to enlarge the vaginal opening to make way for the baby if labour slows down). This was usually followed by the use of forceps (a clamp-type instrument that swiftly extracts the baby from the birth canal).

However, during modern births, medical intervention is more complicated and usually includes oxytocin administration or a caesarean delivery, which involves surgically removing the baby from the womb.

Practices aside, researchers also highlighted that pregnant women weigh more than those in the 1960s. Modern pregnant women have a body mass index (BMI) of 24.9 compared to 23 for the earlier generation. Obesity during pregnancy increases the risk of complication during the birth.

Researchers concluded that modern delivery practices needed to be re-evaluated.

These findings were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

CHICAGO -- New research suggests that long-term use of any type of hormones to ease menopause symptoms can raise a woman's risk of breast cancer.

It is already known that taking pills that combine estrogen and progestin – the most common type of hormone therapy – can increase breast cancer risk. But women who no longer have a uterus can take estrogen alone, which was thought to be safe and possibly even slightly beneficial in terms of cancer risk.

The new study suggests otherwise, if the pills are used for many years. It tracked the health of about 60,000 nurses and found that use of any kind of hormones for 10 years or more slightly raised the chances of developing breast cancer.

"There's a continued increase in risk with longer durations of use and there does not appear to be a plateau," said study leader Dr. Wendy Chen of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

The hormone picture has been confusing, and the absolute risk of breast cancer for any woman taking hormone pills remains small. Doctors say women should use the lowest dose needed for the shortest time possible.

"It's hard to be surprised that if you keep taking it, sooner or later it's going to raise risk," said Dr. Robert Clarke of Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study was discussed Sunday at a cancer conference in Chicago.

___

Online:

___

According to a new study, our thirties are the new twenties, as seven in ten of us admit to feeling at our happiest at 33.

Twentysomethings may have youth, wrinkle-free skin and stamina on their side but 70% of Brits do not feel truly happy until they reach 33, a study by Friends Reunited has revealed.

In contrast, only 6% claimed they were at their happiest during their college years when they were supposed to be having the time of their lives and only 16% said their happiest period was during their childhood.

Over 36% admitted that their happy levels soared once they settled down and had children.

But what makes 33 the magic number?

Over half of us believe life is more fun at 33, with 42% admitting to feeling more optimistic about the future and 38% revealing they stress less at this age than they did when they were younger.

Talking about the study’s findings, psychologist Donna Dawson said: “The age of thirty-three is enough time to have shaken off childhood naivety and the wild scheming of teen-aged years without losing the energy and enthusiasm of youth.

“By this age innocence has been lost, but our sense of reality is mixed with a strong sense of hope, a “can do” spirit, and a healthy belief in our own talents and abilities. We have yet to develop the cynicism and world-weariness that comes with later years.”

The study also discovered that many of us seek happiness through our professional achievements, with 21% admitting they felt happy when they excelled at work.

“While many of us look back and reminisce about our carefree childhood, it’s also important to remember that it’s the big life experiences and the momentous events that we go through that make us who we are, added head of Friends Reunited, Matt Bushby.

This study follows a study by The Huffington Post UK and YouGov, which discovered that Brits feel at their most content at 38.

Quick Study [kwik stuhd-ee]: The Huffington Post Canada's tips to make your life a little sweeter, five minutes at a time. Think of it as a cheatsheet for your general well-being.

Many Canadians can attest that the bonuses of being bilingual are bountiful. Learning a second language has been shown to bring in more income and offers a more flexible mindset -- and now, a study out of York University in Ontario links knowing two languages with a delay in the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

The research, published last Friday in "Trends in Cognitive Sciences", peeks into the minds of bilingual adults and looks at how bilingualism combats degenerative mental diseases like Alzheimer's or dementia -- and the results are promising. According to Dr. Ellen Bialystok, the lead researcher in the study, bilingual adults were found to have a greater cognitive reserve as they got older that allows the mind to run longer and more smoothly.

"It is rather like a reserve tank in a car. When you run out of fuel, you can keep going for longer because there is a bit more in the safety tank," said Bialystok in an interview with the Guardian.

By knowing two languages, the brain's regions that govern general attention and cognitive control are more stimulated, compared with someone who is monolingual. The anticipation of having to speak one of two language at any given time forces the brain to run continually, and results in an experience that helps avoid a mental conflict between languages.

But learning a second language, particularly as an adult, can be difficult. A language's difficulty varies by its similarity to a person's native tongue. Languages close to English like French, Italian and Spanish can take anywhere from 23 to 24 weeks to achieve proficiency, while a language that bears little resemblance to English, like Arabic, means a commitment as long as 88 weeks.

According to Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux, a Spanish and linguistics professor at the University of Toronto, there are two big factors that affect a person's success for mastering a second language. While some are controllable, others, like your physiology, aren't.

"Brain-wise, there are big changes around the age of six and then there's a decline around puberty," said Pérez-Leroux when asked about barriers facing learning new language learners. She added that a person's social network can also influence success with another language.

Things like a person's network of speakers, their desire to consume the language, and their willingness to reach out and seek new affiliations also come into play, according to Pérez-Leroux. She noted, "the more you hear the second language, the more you'll experience it and the more you will learn."

Jeanne Thompson began going grey at 23. She colored her hair for years as she worked her way into management at a large Boston-area financial services company, then gave up the dye for good about a year ago.

The earth didn't shake, and the 44-year-old Thompson was promoted to top management the following year.

She is among a new type of grey panther, a woman who aspires to do well and get ahead on the job while happily maintaining a full head of grey.

"Women put pressure on themselves to colour," the Exeter, N.H., woman said. "It's a bold statement to be grey because it's saying, 'You know what? I did let my hair go, but I'm not letting myself go.' People take me more seriously now. I never apologize for the grey hair."

But not everyone finds it so easy.

ALSO ON THE HUFFINGTON POST: Best And Worst Celebrity Hair Dye Jobs

Laws, of course, exist to ward off discrimination in the workplace, yet legions of men and women have no interest in letting their grey fly. Not now, when the struggling economy has produced a stampede of hungry young job-seekers.

But grey heads have been popping up on runways and red carpets, on models and young celebrities for months. There's Lady Gaga and Kelly Osbourne — via dye — and Hollywood royalty like Helen Mirren, the Oscar-winning British actress.

Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund chief, is one of the most powerful women in the world, and she keeps her hair grey. So does Essie Weingarten, founder and now creative director of the nail polish company Essie Cosmetics.

For regular working women, it's a trickier issue.

"I don't think a woman in the workplace is going to follow that trend," David Scher, a civil rights attorney in Washington, said with a laugh. "I think women in the workplace are highly pressured to look young. If I were an older working person, the last thing I would do is go grey."

Yes, he's a dude, and at 44 he has virtually no salt in his hair, but he wasn't alone in issuing a warning against workplace grey for women.

"While the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 was created to protect employees 40 years of age and older, some men and women may still encounter ageism in the workplace," said Stephanie Martinez Kluga, a manager for Insperity, a San Antonio-based company that provides human resources services to small and medium-size businesses.

"The long-standing perception that men with grey hair are experienced and women with grey hair are simply old may still be an issue that affects employees in workplaces across the U.S.," she said.

Some of today's new grey panthers also offer strong words of caution about exactly how well those anti-discrimination laws work.

Anne Kreamer is grey and proud, but she didn't unleash the colour until she left her day job to become self-employed. She dedicates an entire chapter of her 2007 book "Going Gray" to workplace issues.

"We only fool ourselves about how young we look with our dyed hair," said the Harvard-educated Kreamer, a former Nickelodeon executive who helped launch the satirical magazine Spy before writing the book exploring her journey to silver.

When it comes to grey on the job, Kreamer said, context counts. The colour might be easier in academia over high-tech, for instance, and in Minneapolis over Los Angeles. Job description and your rung on the ladder might also be in play: chief financial officer versus a lowlier, more creative and therefore more grey-tolerant position like assistant talent agent, for example.

Kreamer dubbed the largely unspoken phenomenon "hair-colorism."

In 1950, 7 per cent of women dyed their hair, she said. Today, it's closer to 95 per cent or more, depending on geographic location. In the '60s, easy, affordable hair dye in a box hit store shelves, changing the follicle landscape for good.

"When women were going to work, it was like they could reinvent themselves and say, 'I'm no house frau anymore.' Hair dye got kind of linked in there and we never looked back," said Kreamer, who went prematurely grey and colored for 25 years. "It's still very complicated."

Sandra Rawline, 52, in Houston knows how complicated it can be.

A trial is scheduled for June in her federal lawsuit accusing her boss at Capital Title of Texas of ordering her to dye her grey hair in 2009, when her office moved to a swankier part of town. The suit accuses him of instructing her to wear "younger, fancier suits" and lots of jewelry, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Rawline, an escrow officer and branch manager, wouldn't comment for this story. The newspaper said her superior called her lawsuit preposterous.

The reason we know about Rawline and Lagarde and Weingarten and Mirren and — let's throw in NBCUniversal exec Lauren Zalaznick — is that their grey strands stand out against a sea of, well, not grey.

Weingarten, 62, began going grey at 18 and said she colored for years. She gave it up about 20 years ago.

"People would say, 'Are you crazy? You have to colour your hair,'" she said. "I had my own business. I was an entrepreneur. I could do whatever I wanted, but the truth is I know a lot of women who are petrified to show grey hair because it means they're maturing."

The new "grey movement" doesn't keep tabs on membership, but blogs like Terri Holley's Going Gray are proliferating, along with pro-grey Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds.

"Society has boxed in women on what's considered to be beautiful, and this defies how we're supposed to look," Holley said. "People say, 'I'm so glad I found you. I'm so glad we're having this conversation.'"

Dana King, 53, started going grey in her 20s, began dyeing in her 30s and went to work for San Francisco's KPIX in 1997, rising to news anchor. In January 2010, she first approached her general manager, a man whom she had known for a decade, about her giving up the dye.

"He didn't like the idea at all and he asked me not to do it," King said. Soon after, she did it anyway, with the comfort of a no-cut contract good to May 2013.

"It got down to the point where I was dyeing it every two to three weeks. I just decided, 'I'm not doing this anymore.' I felt like I had sold my soul and betrayed myself," she said.

After sharing her hair story on-air, King was deluged with emails from viewers, including many women who colored and some who worried she had fallen ill. "The response was overwhelmingly positive," King said. "They said it was a relief for them, that they could see someone that made it OK to be grey."

King knows her road to grey wouldn't have gone so well had she been a TV news star elsewhere.

"I work in a youth-oriented industry and I'm not an idiot," she said. "This is not Miami. This is not Los Angeles. I would have been fired had I worked in some other markets. I can't get a job anywhere else, I don't think. I have no illusions about what I've done and I'm good with that."

Got a success story of your own? Send it to us at success.stories@huffingtonpost.com and you could be featured on the site!

Name: Barbara Hawkins
Age: 47
Height: 5'7"
Before Weight: 250 pounds

How I Gained It: I gained my weight when I became pregnant with my twins. The pregnancy was high-risk and I was on bed rest for most of it. Blood pressure and gestational diabetes became a problem. The day the twins were born, I weighed 211 pounds. I continued to gain weight after they were born. I was careless, sedentary and went on to gain 40 more pounds.

I was tired all of the time and always short of breath. I continued to have problems with high blood pressure and sugar. I became tired of people asking me when my baby was due. A lady at the beach told me that a woman in my condition shouldn't be in a hot tub! I couldn't ride roller coasters and other rides with my children, because the belts and bars wouldn't fasten.

Breaking Point: One day in the fall of 2007, I woke up and decided I was going to do something about it. My husband bought me an iPod to help make walking easier.

How I Lost It: I started out walking three miles, three times a week. At first it was hard. I tired easily and my shins hurt, but I kept at it. The weight started to come off, and walking got easier, and I even started running some. I gradually increased my miles; now I'm walking at least 30 miles per week, and I could do more if I had the time.

I have totally turned my life around by changing my attitude about exercise. If you keep at it long enough, instead of feeling like you're going to die if you head to the gym, you can turn that into feeling like you're going to die if you don't do it. Find what you like. For me, it was walking. I love being outdoors with my iPod. It's my quiet time; it's like therapy

I've never been a huge eater, but I ate too much fast food just because it was quick and convenient. Now, I would never eat a Whopper or a Big Mac. If I'm in a hurry, I choose healthier options, like Subway. I gave up sugary soft drinks, although I will still drink diet ones.

I try not to load up on carbohydrates. That doesn't mean I never enjoy a plate of spaghetti or birthday cake, I just see that sort of thing as a treat. I've always enjoyed salads and fruits. Chicken, fish and lean red meats are an everyday thing for me.

The sad part of my story is that I remember how I was treated when I was larger, and I see how I am treated now. I can attest to the fact that life is much harder for overweight people and not just physically. People can be mean.

I feel great. All of my numbers are in a normal range, and I look a lot better. I remember the first time I got to shop for clothes in the Misses section. I was an 18 then, but still so much better than a 24W! I now wear a 6 or 8. I feel 10 years younger than I did 10 years ago.

After Weight: 148 pounds

Check out more of our inspiring weight loss stories below:

For more on weight loss, click here.

By Christopher Intagliata
(Click here for the original article and podcast)

The dengue virus depends on mosquitoes to get around. But the virus may have evolved a way to speed its spread—by manipulating the behavior of its mosquito hosts. It makes them more bloodthirsty, and quicker to find a blood meal, than their uninfected counterparts. So says a study in the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens. [Shuzhen Sim, Jose L. Ramirez and George Dimopoulos, "Dengue Virus Infection of the Aedes aegypti Salivary Gland and Chemosensory Apparatus Induces Genes that Modulate Infection and Blood-Feeding Behavior"]

Researchers compared which genes were active in the salivary glands of infected and uninfected mosquitoes. And they found that dengue infection flipped the switch on 147 genes. As expected, some of those were immune genes—a common response to infection. But the virus also turned on genes involved in odor detection and blood-feeding. Which could make a mosquito better at sniffing out hosts, and quicker to plunge its proboscis into the skin for a snack.

Previous studies have shown malaria parasites can change a mosquito's behavior too, by making it more likely to feed on multiple victims—thus infecting more people.

And the researchers say we humans may also do the bidding of these pathogens. When infected we sweat—and the odor attracts other mosquitoes that feed on us and pick up hitchhiking pathogens for their next ride.

For those who will be celebrating Passover over the next week or so, a cupboard full of matzah can feel like the most boring menu prospect in the world (after, of course, you've finished off the seder leftovers). Sure, you have your recipe for chicken soup and kugel, but why not get inventive this year with some Italian inspiration?

New York-based chef Alessandra Rovati has been creating and writing about Jewish Italian food (Cucina Ebraica) for years, expanding on Italy's rich Jewish heritage, and of course, the country's culinary traditions.

For Passover, Rovati has put together some of her favourite dishes with non-leavened options -- not exactly a simple task for a culture so firmly ensconced in wheat flour pasta (potato pasta, however, is considered kosher for the holiday). Part of their beauty is that they can work for both Passover and Easter feasts, which correspond this year, without anyone feeling as though they're missing out.

SEE: The recipes in the slideshow below -- instructions are in the slides, as well as below:

Chocolate Salami
Ingredients
6 Tbsp. (90 ml) water
1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups (500 ml) semisweet chocolate, grated (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2-3 Tbsp. (30 to 45 ml) orange liqueur, or a few drops of vanilla or almond extract
1 cup (250 ml) shelled walnuts, or pistachios
1 cup (250 ml) broken Passover cookies (or more nuts for a gluten-free version)
2 Tbsp. (30 ml) candied orange (optional)

Instructions
Boil the water in a pot. Lower the heat, add the sugar and cook for about one minute. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from the stovetop and add extract or liqueur, the broken cookies, nuts, and candied peel if using. Taste and add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter flavour.
Refrigerate for a few minutes (in the refrigerator); when it's lukewarm, shape it into one or more logs wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap or parchment. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, unwrap and cut into slices.

Bocca Di Dame Al Caramello (Lady's Mouth Cake with Orange Caramel)
Ingredients
2 small organic oranges
1 organic lemon
2 cups (500 ml) ground almonds
1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
3 or 4 Tbsp. (45 to 60 ml) fine matzah meal
5 large eggs, separated (use 3 yolks and 5 whites)
a pinch of salt
toasted, slivered almonds to decorate

Grate the zest of an orange and set it aside. Place the peeled orange in a small pot, cover it with water and bring to a boil. Drain, dry and set aside. Beat the egg yolks with 2/3 of the sugar and the salt. Add the ground almonds and the matzah meal, the zest of the second orange and of the lemon, and combine well.
In a separate bowl, beat the whites with an electric whisk until stiff; gently incorporate them into the batter with a spatula, using an upward motion. Line a baking pan with oven-proof parchment and pour the batter into it.
Bake at 350 F - uncovered for the first 20 minutes, then covered with foil for 15 or 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down on a rack, then cut into squares. In the meantime, melt the remaining sugar with the water in which you boiled the orange over low heat, stirring constantly, until it forms a caramel that you will brush on top of the cake. Decorate with slivered almonds.

Matzah Gnocchi with Light Tomato & Leek Sauce
Serves 4 to 6 as appetizer

Ingredients
11 matzahs, broken into small pieces
2 eggs
1 Tbsp (15 ml) freshly minced parsley
A pinch of nutmeg
half a salami, peeled and coarsely chopped
3-4 spoonfuls of matzah meal, plus more to dust the gnocchi
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
Soak the matzah in cold water or broth for at least 1 hour or until soft. Drain, squeeze well, and place into a clean bowl; add the eggs, salt and pepper, parsley, nutmeg, salami, and 3 or 4 tbsp. of matzah meal. Mix all the ingredients together.
In a second bowl, place some more matzah meal. With a wet tablespoon or a scooper, take some of the mixture and place it on top of the matzah meal. Using your hands, or by shaking the bowl, you should be able to cover this "gnocco" more or less evenly with matzah meal and shape it into a ping-pong size ball (just like a matzah ball).
Proceed with the rest of the mix and place the gnocchi on a piece of paper towel.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; drop in the gnocchi, and scoop them out as they raise to surface using a slotted skimmer.
Dress with the following light tomato sauce:
Heat 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and add 2 thinly sliced leeks and a whole clove of garlic.
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, and discard the garlic. Add a 28-ounce can of peeled tomatoes, break them down with your hands, and add to the leeks. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. Cook for about 10-15 minutes uncovered, allowing the sauce to thicken.

Easy Passover Soup With Frittata
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp (15 ml) freshly minced parsley
4 slices Hungarian salami, peeled and very finely chopped (optional)
salt, and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp (2 ml) of nutmeg
3 Tbsp (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
3 quarts (3 L) (or to taste) chicken or beef broth

Stir together the eggs, the parsley, salami, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a bowl. Heat olive oil in a skillet, pour the mixture in, and once one side is cooked, flip it over and cook the other side (if you prefer and if the skillet is oven-proof, you can also cook the second side by broiling in the oven). Allow the frittata to cool down and cut it into small cubes, that you will place into a bowl and cover with steaming hot chicken or beef broth for a soup.

Pistachio Amaretto Crostata with Chocolate and Mixed Berries
Ingredients
Crust
1 heaped cup (250 ml) blanched pistachios or almonds
1/2 cup (125 ml) granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 slightly beaten egg white, or a little more as necessary
3/4 tsp. (4 ml) amaretto liqueur or almond extract
matzah meal for dusting (gluten-free matzah meal for a gluten-free version)

Filling
8 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate, grated (or chocolate chips)
3 Tbsp. (45 ml) almond oil (or 1/2 stick margarine)
2 small baskets of fresh mixed berries
a few Tbsps of raspberry or blackberry preserve

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch spring-form pan with aluminum foil or parchment (you can also use a disposable aluminum pan). Grease the parchment and the sides of the pan with margarine or oil, and dust with matzah meal.
Grind the pistachios or almonds, in a food processor. Add sugar, almond extract and salt and combine. Add the egg white and blend. Remove from the food processor and knead with your hands until the mix holds together (it will still be very crumbly), adding a spoonful or two more egg white only if necessary. Press the dough onto the bottom of the pan with your fingers or knuckles.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and press it down quickly again with a ball of paper towel or the back of a wooden spoon (it will be too hot to touch), trying to make it slightly concave . Put it back in the oven and bake for another 3-4 minutes Take out again, press down again, and allow it to cool down and harden.
Remove the parchment or aluminium lining, and put the crust back into the pan. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (or in your microwave) without letting it boil or burn, and add the oil or margarine; stir until smooth, pour the mixture on top of the crust, and refrigerate (covered) for at least 2 hrs. The crust and filling can be made several days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
A few hours before serving brush the chocolate top with a little preserve and arrange the fresh berries on top. Leave out of the fridge for at least one hour before serving to make it easier to cut, and use a sharp knife.
*** Tip: this type of crust can be hard to cut, so don't serve the cake in a delicate platter unless you pre-slice it!