By Genevra Pittman
NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters Health) - The main ingredient in Botox may be modestly helpful for people with chronic migraines, a new report suggests, but the wrinkle treatment doesn't seem to offer much relief for those whose headaches are less frequent.
Patients who started out having headaches almost daily reported two fewer headaches per month when they were given injections of botulinum toxin A. They also had more side effects, including weak muscles and a stiff neck.
The medication is marketed under multiple brands, but Allergan's Botox is the best known. Botox is used to treat a range of conditions, including migraines and excessive sweating.
"The effect these appear to be having on migraine headaches is small -- it only reduces headaches by a couple of days a month," said Dr. Jeffrey Jackson, the study's lead researcher, from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
That's "really, really modest," he told Reuters Health.
Still, it's possible that some chronic migraine patients will benefit from injections much more than others, he said.

The initial trials varied widely in their use of the drug, with researchers injecting the medication into any of four to 58 spots, either at a single time or at three different times a few months apart.
Most trials allowed patients to use other headache medication in addition to the injections.
Study participants with chronic headaches or chronic migraines initially reported having 17 to 20 headaches per month, on average. Twelve weeks or more after getting botulinum toxin A injections, that had dropped by an average of two monthly headaches, compared to patients getting the placebo.
In people with fewer migraines to begin with -- six per month, on average -- the drug injections didn't seem to provide any change in headache frequency. The findings were consistent regardless of patients' age as well as the botulinum toxin A dose and injection strategy used.
IMPACT STILL SIGNIFICANT
About half of study participants experienced side effects during the trials. People randomly assigned to receive the active drug injections were 25 percent more likely to report any type of side effect. Muscle weakness was nine times more common in those patients, and neck pain or stiffness was reported three to five times more often than in the placebo groups.
Botox is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat chronic migraines -- but not for less-frequent "episodic" headaches, a spokesperson for Allergan noted.
Headache researcher Dr. Vincent Martin, from the University of Cincinnati, said doctors have known for years that Botox doesn't help people with less-frequent headaches -- and the new review "gives a more definitive conclusion" on that.
But given that Botox is the only FDA-approved treatment for chronic migraines -- the most disabling type of headache -- its effect in those patients is not insignificant, said Martin, who wasn't involved in the new study.
"It's a very important treatment for many people with chronic migraine -- not for everyone," he told Reuters Health.
The drug costs nearly $1,000 for the dose used in chronic migraine patients, and injections aren't typically covered by insurance, according to Jackson.
He said the study had no outside funding source and wasn't linked to any companies that make botulinum toxin A products.
Dr. Mitchell Brin, Allergan's Chief Scientific Officer for Botox, pointed out that previous studies have suggested people with chronic migraines who are prescribed the drug also tend to have shorter-lasting migraines on the days when they still have headaches.
The difference equaled about 40 fewer hours per month of pain, compared to patients given placebo injections, he said.
That's "quite meaningful," Brin told Reuters Health. "The impact on their lives is quite significant."
Martin agreed that doctors often take into account more than just headache frequency when they prescribe the injections.
"Just looking at headache days per month may not tell the whole story," he said.

Flickr photo by joeflintham.

Is the internet bad for our brains? Is it affecting our ability to remember things, form meaningful relationships, or make decisions? How is it beneficial? Isn't having so much information at our fingertips a good thing?

I think it's important to remember that in science, answers to questions like these are rarely straightforward. Without a doubt the time we spend online changes our brains, but then again, so does everything we do. Our brains are highly plastic, meaning that external experience shapes our neural structure and function. But exactly how the Internet induces those changes is still something of a mystery.

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, is attempting to shed light in this very new area of research. I spoke with him to learn more. Watch the video above and/or click the link below to read the whole story. And don't forget to leave a comment. Come on, talk nerdy to me!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - The director of the Miss Dominican Republic beauty contest says the woman recently chosen for the title will lose her crown because she's married.

Director Magaly Febles says contestants must be single, but it's been discovered that Carlina Duran wed in 2009.

Contest organizers have scheduled a Wednesday night news conference to give the crown to runner-up Dulcita Lieggi, who is 24.

The 25-year-old Duran was crowned Miss Dominican Republic on April 17 and was to represent her country at the Miss Universe contest. She has not commented publicly on her marital status.

Febles told the Dominican television news program Noticias SIN on Tuesday night that Duran acknowledged that she is married after the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre reported on its website that she was wed on June 6, 2009.

Two years ago, men breathed a sigh of relief when researchers from Kings College London concluded the female G-spot was no more than fantasy.

However, the hunt for the elusive pleasure zone is back on, according to gynaecologist Adam Ostrzenski of the Institute of Gynecology in St. Petersburg, Florida - as his latest study, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, claims to prove this structure does exist in real-life.

But, unfortunately for sexual thrill seekers, the "well-delineated sac structure" is still not going to be easy to find. It measures just 8.1mm long and 3.6mm wide, according to Ostrzenski's report - based on findings from his dissection of an 83-year-old female cadaver in Poland.

"I selected an old lady for the dissection because I wanted to see whether this structure was persistent through life or just in the younger population," said Ostrzenski, according to the New Scientist.

However, Beverly Whipple, the researcher who coined the term back in 1982, has dismissed the findings, saying they oversimplify women's erotic responses.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Whipple believes Ostrzenski has ignored other research contradicting his own - and that there is "no single spot" that boosts the intensity of orgasm in women.

Earlier this year, researchers from the Yale-New Haven Hospital In Connecticut, found no conclusive evidence to support the existence of the erogenous zone. After reviewing 100 studies conducted over the past 60 years, they suggested its popularity is a product of hype, fuelled by the pornography and sex therapy industries, reported HuffPost Lifestyle.

Click here to find out more about G-spots and the female orgasm

Source: Caters

A blind man was fined by an overzealous park ranger for not cleaning up after his dog - even though he couldn't see the mess.

Ian Bradwell, who is registered blind, was slapped with an £80 fixed penalty in Braunstone Park, Leicester, when his guide dog Iona went to the toilet.

But despite showing the warden his blind stick, he was still forced to pay up the on-the-spot fine.

And after phoning Leicester City Council to complain, he was told he still needed to provide them with documentation to prove he is blind - despite his guide dog and stick.

Ian, 46, from Leicester, Leics, blasted: "Having a guide dog, by implication, means you've got a visual impairment - but they still wanted to see further proof.

"I think it's ludicrous. It all seems a bit silly and common sense is clearly lacking."

Ian has been visually impaired since he was 17 and was registered blind some years later.

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• 'Storm The Weather Dog' Pops Up On Canadian News Bulletin (VIDEO)
• Guide Dog Calls Cops When Blind Woman Attacked

He can see nothing out of his right eye and only enough out of his left eye to be able to tell whether it is day or night.

Registered blind owners of guide dogs are exempt from paying anti-fouling fines.

But Ian explained how he was still forced to pay up.

He added: "As I walked with Iona a warden came up to me and asked me if I realised my dog had fouled.

"I apologised, explaining I was visually impaired and held my stick up to show him.

"I asked for a bag so I could go back and pick it up, even though guide dog owners are exempt from picking it up because they can't see it.

"He didn't seem interested in anything other than giving me the £80 fixed penalty ticket. I telephoned the council but got the same sort of attitude.

"I accept I made a mistake. Iona always goes to a 'spend area' in the garden before we go out, whether she's working or on free time.

"I have had guide dogs for 11 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

"Guide dog owners pride themselves on having dogs who are clean, don't go around barking at people or do their business in a public place."

A worker at charity Guide Dogs has since contacted the council to explain blind people are exempt from anti-fouling fines - forcing the council into a U-turn.

A city council spokesman said: "We now have written confirmation of registered ownership from Guide Dogs and the fixed-penalty notice has been cancelled."

Tony Murray, of Guide Dogs, said: "Guide Dogs has been working closely with Leicester City Council to resolve the situation and was pleased to hear yesterday morning that the fine has been waived."

By Melinda Wenner Moyer
(Click here for the original article)

Ah, glorious springtime. It brings flowers, warmer temperatures—and for many, incessant sneezes and sniffles. Everybody curses allergies as annoying at best, and some allergic reactions—such as anaphylaxis, which rapidly lowers blood pressure and closes the airways—can be fatal. But a handful of researchers now propose that allergies may actually have evolved to protect us. Runny noses, coughs and itchy rashes keep toxic chemicals out of our bodies, they argue, and persuade us to steer clear of dangerous environments.

Most immunologists consider allergies to be misdirected immune reactions to innocuous substances such as pollen or peanuts. Viral and bacterial infections invoke what are called "type 1" immune responses, whereas allergies involve "type 2" responses, which are thought to have evolved to protect against large parasites. Type 1 responses directly kill the pathogens and the human cells they infect; type 2 works by strengthening the body's protective barriers and promoting pest expulsion. The idea is that smaller pathogens can be offensively attacked and killed, but it's smarter to fight larger ones defensively.

But Ruslan Medzhitov, an immunobiologist at Yale University, has never accepted the idea of allergies as rogue soldiers from the body's parasite-fighting army. Parasites and the substances that trigger allergies, called allergens, "share nothing in common," he says—first, there are an almost unlimited number of allergens. Second, allergic responses can be extremely fast—on the scale of seconds—and "a response to parasites doesn't have to be that fast," he says.

In a paper published April 26 in Nature, Medzhitov and his colleagues argue that allergies are triggered by potentially dangerous substances in the environment or food to protect us. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group) As evidence, they cite research including a 2006 study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation reporting that key cells involved in allergic responses degrade and detoxify snake and bee venom. A 2010 study published in the same journal suggests that allergic responses to tick saliva prevent the pests from attaching and feeding. This mechanism, he argues, is distinct from the classic type 2 response the body uses to defend itself against internal parasites.

More generally, hated allergic symptoms keep unhealthy environmental irritants out of the body, Medzhitov posits. "How do you defend against something you inhale that you don't want? You make mucus. You make a runny nose, you sneeze, you cough, and so forth. Or if it's on your skin, by inducing itching, you avoid it or you try to remove it by scratching it," he explains. Likewise, if you've ingested something allergenic, your body might react with vomiting. Finally, if a particular place or circumstance ramps up your allergies, you're likely to avoid it in the future. "The thing about allergies is that as soon as you stop exposure to an allergen, all the symptoms are gone," he says.

Importantly, Medzhitov notes that although allergies are intended to be helpful, they are sometimes excessive and detrimental—the body can go too far. And allergies don't always make sense. "I would say that food is still mostly innocuous," says Dale Umetsu, an immunologist at Children's Hospital Boston, yet "food allergies affect one in 12 kids." How is that protective? According to Medzhitov, foods may have proteins in them that are harmful or they might mimic potentially harmful substances. (With food, he says, there's often little consensus about what, exactly, the offending allergen is.) And one has to think of the evolutionary past, he adds: for our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, many plants that looked like food were toxic, so allergies may have evolved to protect us from them. Finally, he says that some allergies may develop through a "guilt by association" mechanism: An individual might develop an egg allergy after eating eggs in a polluted environment, for instance.  "This is a type of detection by proxy—you use some cue, like smell, or a visual cue or taste, to indicate if a food is associated with something that's noxious. Next time you're exposed to it, you avoid it."

This still doesn't explain why some people are more allergy-prone than others. "Allergens are everywhere," says Erika von Mutius, an allergy specialist at Munich University Children's Hospital in Germany. "So if this is a defense, why isn't everybody allergic?" According to Medzhitov, allergies may be more common in people with defects in other defensive tactics. For instance, 42 percent of people who have a mutation in a structural skin protein called filaggrin commonly experience allergic skin reactions. "If you don't have optimal physical barriers, you rely on a greater degree on allergic defenses," he says.

And what about the growing body of research suggesting that childhood environment shapes allergy risk? A 2011 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported that children who grow up on farms, where they are exposed to many microorganisms, are less likely than other kids to develop asthma and allergies. This idea, known as the hygiene hypothesis, suggests that individuals who encounter a multitude of bacteria and viruses early in life invest more immune resources into type 1 responses at the cost of type 2 reactions, including allergies. Medzhitov maintains that this theory can co-exist with his own. "It's a different aspect of disease susceptibility that has to do with early programming," he says.

Ultimately, Medzhitov's theory raises more questions than it answers, but many agree that the basic tenets are plausible. "It stimulates us as scientists to draw up some new hypotheses," says Kari Nadeau, an immunologist at the Stanford School of Medicine. "The hypotheses need to be tested and might not necessarily be confirmed, but at least this paper drives us to understand allergies better."

People with fibromyalgia often report problems with sleeping, but a new study in the Journal of Pain shows that troubled sleep doesn't actually predict fibromyalgia pain.

University of Florida researchers hypothesized that because past research has shown a link between troubled sleep and other kinds of pain, as well as a link between sleep deprivation and pain in people who don't have fibromyalgia, there might be a link between less sleep and pain from fibromyalgia.

But in their study, they found that lack of sleep was not able to predict the pain the study participants felt. Their study was based on 74 people with fibromyalgia, whose sleep and pain information was taken for 14 days.

"This study suggests that measures of sleep duration and nightly wake time do not predict fibromyalgia pain at the group level," the researchers wrote in the study. Rather, they said that being inactive or having fatigue may better predict pain than the amount of sleep obtained in a night.

However, this research isn't to say there's no link between sleep and fibromyalgia. A recent study in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism showed that trouble sleeping can increase a woman's risk of developing fibromyalgia by more than three times, compared to people who get better rest, Health.com reported.

But still, the researchers of that study cautioned that the research doesn't show that sleep problems cause fibromyalgia, Health.com reported:

"Sleep problems are just one factor that may contribute to the development of fibromyalgia," says Paul J. Mork, Ph.D., a study coauthor and a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in Trondheim. "Fibromyalgia is a complex pain syndrome and there are numerous other factors that may contribute to the development of this illness."

When most people think of 20-somethings and disposable income, they picture a group of young adults disbursing money frivolously and leaving their futures behind. But in reality, most youth want to have a grip on their finances and start saving as soon as they can.

Financial priorities for Canadians between the ages of 18 to 34 don't seem to look all that different from those older than them: 49 per cent want to own a home, 48 per cent want to reduce or eliminate debt through regular payments and 39 per cent of youth want to start an emergency savings fund, according to a recent RBC poll.

"People aspire to own a home and this is a time when people want to," says Melissa Jarman, director of student banking at RBC.

Jarman says to start saving money, people need to start figuring out where they're spending it. "People need to rethink their spending, regardless of age. When you think of somewhere that your money is going to, like buying lunch everyday, a lot of people spend a lot," she says. To break it down in simple math, $10 a day on lunch is $50 a week and $2,600 a year, she notes.

But this doesn't mean you can't have any fun. If going on a vacation once a year or blowing a few bills on alcohol-filled nights is your idea of fun, budgeting and saving for the things you want to do won't hurt your bank account.

Here are Jarman's five savings tips for 20-somethings -- and those of us who still think we fit in that category:

Get Used To Saving
Save, even if it's just a few dollars at a time. As you start your career, paying down student debt and planning major purchases like a car or first home can make it difficult to save. The trick is to incorporate savings into your budget before you get accustomed to spending it every month, Jarman says.

Emergency Funds Are For Emergencies
"As a general rule of thumb, an emergency fund should be about three times your monthly expenses if you are single, and six times your monthly expenses if you are married or have children," Jarman says. Opening a high-interest savings account will help you earn money through interest.

"D" Is For Discipline -- Not Debt
Organize your debt in order of interest rates and pay off the debt with the highest interest rates first. You may also want to consider consolidating all of your loans under one umbrella, with a lower interest rate if you can, Jarman says. Make your payments on time and, when you can, pay more than the minimum payment. Missing payments can hurt your credit score and should be avoided at all costs.

Rethink Spending
Let's say that, on average, you spend $10 a day on lunch. That's $50 a week and $2,600 a year. If you earn $30,000 a year, for example, you would save up to nine per cent of your salary by preparing lunch at home, Jarman says. Saving on these simple costs leaves you more money to save with a RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) or TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account).

Millions of people who take dietary supplements to ward off cancer may be toying with a "two-edged sword" that might do them harm, experts have warned.

A team of US scientists said there was no good evidence that supplement pills and capsules reduced the risk of cancer in healthy individuals.

They pointed out that antioxidants such as as beta carotene, and vitamins C and E might even have biological effects that promote cancer.

Antioxidants are believed to counter the destructive effects of rogue oxygen molecules called free radicals.

Oxidative stress by free radicals, which attack cell membranes, proteins and DNA, has been linked to cancer and heart disease.

But the US authors, writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, argue that the supposed benefits of antioxidant supplements are largely a myth.

People were being misled by "messages from supplement manufactures" stressing the health benefits of their products, including cancer prevention.

The panel of five experts, led by Dr Maria Elena Martinez, from the University of California at San Diego, wrote:

"Undoubtedly, use is driven by a common belief that supplements can improve health and protect against disease, and that at worst, they are harmless.

"However, the assumption that any dietary supplement is safe under all circumstances and in all quantities is no longer empirically reasonable."

Health supplements are booming in the US, with annual sales estimated at 30 billion dollars (£18.6 billion), said the scientists, who assessed the evidence relating to several supplements including antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin D and calcium.

A number of animal, laboratory and observational studies had appeared to show that dietary supplements could lower cancer risk, they said. However, these findings were not confirmed by the "gold-standard" in evidence-based medicine, randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

Only a small number of RCTs had been carried out to test the effectiveness of dietary supplements, said the experts - and several of these had reported increased risks.

"Supplementation by exogenous anti-oxidants may well be a two-edged sword," the scientists wrote. "These compounds could, in vivo (outside the laboratory), serve as pro-oxidants or interfere with any number of protective processes such as apoptosis induction."

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, causes malfunctioning cells effectively to "commit suicide".

Experimental studies had shown that different tissues with different cancer-triggering pathways may not respond the same way to a particular nutrient.

"In fact, a nutrient may be associated with protection in one tissue and harm in another," said the experts.

They added that supplement users were "sometimes quick to discredit caution" and distrustful of mainstream science which they suspected of being corrupted by links to the drug industry.

Users may also assume the supplements they bought to be as well regulated as over-the-counter medications.

"These beliefs underscore the need for efforts by scientists and government officials to encourage the public to make
prudent decisions based on sound evidence with respect to use of dietary supplements for cancer prevention," the scientists concluded.

In a statement, Graham Keen, executive director of the The Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA) said: “The vitamin and mineral supplements industry has an exceptional record of both safety and efficacy, in the UK and worldwide.”

“Figures published by the Food Standards Agency showed that there were only 11 reported reactions to food supplements over an 11 year period, the majority of them in the lowest category of harm. Compared to other foods or medicines, food supplements have an enviable record.

The HFMA believe that research demonstrating fruit and vegetables have been depleted in minerals since the Thirties, means additional steps need to be taken.

“Alongside the fact that just 15% of women and 13% of men are eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables, it is important that consideration be given to responsible supplementation for good health.”

By Marisa Cohen

We never appreciate how much our eyes do for us -- from helping to navigate the world to letting us ogle George Clooney -- until something goes wrong. In fact, they're more sensitive than you think: Your eyes are affected by everything from makeup to air-conditioning to all those birthdays. Here's how to take care of them so you can keep seeing the sights.

'My Eyes Are Always Itchy This Time Of Year'
Seasonal allergies can make your eyes itch like crazy, thanks to the histamine they (and other body parts) produce in response to pollen and other irritants.

More from Health.com:
Easy Ways to Protect Your Eyes at Any Age
The Best Sunglasses for Healthy Eyes
Pain Relief for Laptop-Lovers

How to see clearly: Staying indoors with the windows shut is ideal, but we know you can't be a total recluse. So use over-the-counter allergy eyedrops such as Naphcon-A, or ask your doc to prescribe a more potent one such as Pataday, says Anne Sumers, M.D., a clinical correspondent for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. And shower before bed so pollen's not lingering on your face and in your hair all night long.

'Why Are My Lids Pink And Puffy?'
If one or both of your eyelids are inflamed, itchy and red, you may have blepharitis, which occurs when bacteria or excessive oil from your eyes coats the lid near the eyelash line. It can also be caused by allergies. "Blepharitis, which is not contagious and usually doesn't require antibiotics, often gets mistaken for pink eye, which is usually caused by a virus and is highly infectious," Dr. Sumers says. Check in with an eye doctor to figure out which one you've got. A pink eyelid can also mean you have a sty, a bacterial infection on your lid that takes the form of a painful, pus-filled pimple.

How to see clearly: Prevent and treat both styes and blepharitis by keeping the eye clean. Soak a washcloth with warm water, wring it out and place it over your closed eye for a minute or two. Do this two or three times a day. "Clean all your eye makeup off every night," Dr. Sumers adds, "and never wear eyeliner inside your lash line." And no matter how tempted you are, don't pop a sty, or you could spread the infection.

'My Eyes Are Burning!'
If you feel a gritty, scratchy or even stabbing pain in your eyes, you may be one of the 10 million Americans suffering from dry eye syndrome. Blame modern life: Air-conditioning and central heating can leave eyes parched, says Stephanie Marioneaux, M.D., an ophthalmologist in Chesapeake, Virginia. Plus, studies have shown that when we stare at a screen, we don't blink as often, so our eyes lose their natural lubrication. If you wear contact lenses, you're more prone; same goes if you smoke or take medications such as antihistamines or decongestants.

How to see clearly: Try artificial tears. "Gels that are labeled 'for severe dry eye,' such as Systane, are thicker and last longer, but they can feel gummy and blur vision," Dr. Sumers says. "Drops that are labeled 'mild to moderate,' such as Refresh, are thinner and feel better, but won't last as long."

If drops don't do the trick, your doctor can prescribe a topical medication or fit you with punctal plugs (they're inserted into your eye to keep tears from draining too quickly). Use a vaporizer or humidifier to keep indoor air moist, too. Surprisingly, eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids -- such as salmon, sardines and tuna -- may reduce your risk of dry eye, and taking flaxseed oil and omega-3 supplements may relieve symptoms, studies suggest. And every 10 minutes or so, look away from your computer or tablet screen and bat your lids like Scarlett O'Hara.

'Menus Are Suddenly Hard To Read'
No matter how great your vision's been, it's nearly inevitable that you'll have more trouble seeing things close up as you reach your 40s. The lens in your eye gets harder and less flexible over time, gradually losing the ability to focus, Dr. Marioneaux explains. The retina also becomes less light-sensitive, so it's harder to see in dim light.

How to see clearly: Squinting as you read? Pick up a pair of +1 glasses at the drugstore. (Wearing glasses won't make your sight worse -- that's just a myth, Dr. Sumers says.)

If you already have glasses or contacts for distance and don't want to switch between two pairs, go for old-fashioned bifocals (or newer bifocal contact lenses), trifocals (which have a third zone in the middle for computer-distance vision), or progressive lenses (which blend the edges so you can see everything from a movie screen to a medicine label without as much distortion). Another option is monovision, in which your dominant eye is corrected (with contacts or surgery) for distance, and your other eye is corrected for close-up vision.

Let your gadgets work for you, too: Increase the font size on your e-reader, for instance, or try apps such as MagLight, which turns your smartphone into a light-up magnifying glass.

'I Keep Seeing Spots'
Little dots and squiggly lines, called "floaters," come into your field of vision when the vitreous humor -- a gel-like part of the eye -- begins to shrink, causing cells and fibers to clump and cast shadows onto your retina. In most cases, they're harmless, but if a whole bunch appear suddenly, or if they're accompanied by persistent flashing lights or peripheral-vision loss, see your eye doctor ASAP -- both could be signs of a retinal tear or detachment.

How to see clearly: If you've got a retinal detachment, or the floaters are so bad they're impairing your vision, you'll need surgery. Otherwise, most folks just learn to live with them, and even ignore them.

For more on personal health, click here.

No convincing evidence has been revealed that mobile phones damage human health in spite of an "explosion" in research into the issue over the past decade, according to a review of scientific studies billed as the most comprehensive yet.

Driving while using a mobile phone remains the one established health risk of mobile phones, a leading scientist said as a report on exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields emitted by devices such as mobile phones was published.

The review found that a large number of studies have been published on cancer risks in relation to mobile phone use but overall the results have not demonstrated that the use of mobile phones causes brain tumours or any other type of cancer.

But the report, from the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) independent advisory group on non-ionising radiation (AGNIR), warned that it was "important" to continue to monitor all the evidence as there was little information on the risks beyond 15 years from first exposure.

This monitoring should include monitoring national brain tumour trends which have so far given "no indication" of any risk, the report recommended.

The HPA said it would continue to advise a "precautionary" approach and keep the science under close review.

The agency recommends that "excessive" use of mobile phones by children should be discouraged while adults should make their own choices as to whether they wish to reduce their own exposure.

Professor Anthony Swerdlow, chairman of the AGNIR and an epidemiologist at the Institute of Cancer Research, said the last similar large-scale review by the group had been carried out in 2003 but since then much more information had been made available.

He said there were still limitations to the published research that meant a "definitive judgment" could not be given but the evidence overall has not demonstrated any adverse effects on human health from exposure to radiofrequency fields below internationally accepted guideline levels.

"There has now been a very large amount of research conducted, which wasn't true 10 years ago, and we have much firmer information than we had on several areas, for instance symptoms, cognitive effects, brain tumours, than we had then," he said.

"There is no convincing evidence that radiofrequency exposure causes health effects in adults or in children but beyond 15 years for mobile phones, we have to say we have little or no information.

"I think it is important therefore, to some extent, to keep an eye out on this, which we will do into the future."

He said there was a need to keep a "watch" on national cancer trends, particularly for brain tumours. So far, brain tumour rates were not rising in the age groups exposed for the last 10 to 15 years, he said.

"Remember this is an exposure that 20 years ago nobody had and now practically everybody has so you might expect that if there were appreciable effects that you would see them in the tumour rates," he said.

"But if this is something that takes 15, 20 years or more to show up - we have no reason to think there is an effect - if it takes a long time to show up, we need to keep watching the rates just in case."

Dr John Cooper, director of the HPA centre for radiation, chemical and environmental hazards, said: "The HPA's position on mobile phone technologies is in line with the AGNIR's findings.

"There is still no convincing scientific evidence that RF field exposures from mobile phones and other radio technologies affect human health at exposure levels below internationally agreed guidelines.

"However, as this is a relatively new technology, the HPA will continue to advise a precautionary approach and keep the science under close review.

"The HPA recommends that excessive use of mobile phones by children should be discouraged and mobile phone-specific energy absorption rates values should be clearly marked in the phone sales literature."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "There is no current evidence to suggest a health risk for adults or children from mobile phones.

"The independent advisory group keeps all evidence under review and continues to recommend that excessive use should be discouraged."

A daily bowl of strawberries and blueberries may help slow age-related mental decline, research suggests.

Regular consumption of the fruits can delay cognitive ageing by up to 2.5 years, according to information collected from almost 16,000 women.

Scientists in the US analysed health and lifestyle data from the Nurses' Health Study which recruited almost 122,000 registered nurses aged 30 to 55 in 1976.

Between 1995 and 2001, mental ability was measured in 16,010 of the women who were older than 70.

Those who had consumed larger amounts of strawberries and blueberries appeared to experience slower mental decline.

Strawberries and blueberries are rich in flavonoid chemicals that have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Study leader Dr Elizabeth Devore, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said: "We provide the first epidemiologic evidence that berries may slow progression of cognitive decline in elderly women.

"Our findings have significant public health implications as increasing berry intake is a fairly simple dietary modification to test cognition protection in older adults."

The findings are published in the journal Annals of Neurology.

Despite adjusting for influencing factors, the researchers said they could not rule out the possibility of some effect from other lifestyle choices such as exercise.

Dr Eric Karran, from the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Population studies like this can provide useful clues about the effects of lifestyle and diet on cognition but we must be sensible when interpreting the results. The study suggests a link between eating berries and slower cognitive decline but there could be many factors at play.

"It is not possible to say whether the increased consumption of berries resulted in an increased, beneficial level of flavonoid antioxidants in the brain. Further research will be needed to conclude whether antioxidants in berries are beneficial in the brain and we can't assume that simply eating berries could protect against cognitive ageing or dementia."

"Understanding the factors that affect our memory and thinking as we age can help us to understand possible risk factors for dementia.

"Previous evidence has shown that eating fruit as part of a healthy diet in mid-life could help to reduce our risk of dementia and so eating a healthy balanced diet is something we should all be thinking about."

Welcome to 'You Tried It,' a series of video posts from top trainers, who will share clips from their popular workout DVDs. Please try the moves outlined in the clip above and tell us what you think in the comments!

You might be familiar with our popular series, 'We Tried It' in which Healthy Living editors try one of the myriad fitness classes on offer in New York City -- from the wacky to the hardcore. We have so much fun and we want to bring the fun to you as well.

Jari Love, a certified personal trainer and the creator of the popular Get RIPPED! series, released her latest video Jari Love Get Extremely Ripped Revved to the Max. The series includes classic bootcamp moves with hand weights. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Have you done a bootcamp before? Would you add the video to your repertoire?

Nervy individuals may be more at risk of aggressive cancer, new research suggests.

Scientists found that anxious mice were worse affected by skin tumours than less fearful animals. Stressed and worried humans could be susceptible in the same way, they believe.

Researchers in the US first identified laboratory mice with nervous personalities that avoided the dark or open spaces.

The hairless animals were then exposed to ultra violet radiation at levels equivalent to those experienced by humans who spend too long in the sun.

After a few months, the mice developed skin tumours - as did a group of non-anxious mice.

The difference was that the nervy mice grew more tumours, and only they went on to develop invasive skin cancer.

Anxious mice had higher levels of regulatory T-cells, whose job is to dampen down overblown immune responses.

They also produced fewer of the chemical signals needed to fire up an immune attack on tumours.

Levels of the stress hormone corticosterone were also raised in the anxious mice.

The research appears in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.

Lead author Dr Firdaus Dhabhar, from Stanford University Medical Centre in California, said: "Anxiety may be defined as increased sensitivity to physically existent, or non-existent but perceived or anticipated, stressors.

"Identifying a psychological trait right at the beginning - before any experimental manipulation - and seeing that it can be associated with increased tumours months later, and with biology that can begin to explain mechanisms, was a rewarding surprise."

Further research now needs to be carried out on human patients, said Dr Dhabhar.

He added: "It's bad enough that cancer diagnosis and treatment generates stress and anxiety, but this study shows that anxiety and stress can accelerate cancer progression, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.

"The goal is to ameliorate or eliminate the effects of anxiety and chronic stress, at least at the time of cancer diagnosis and during treatment."

Chronic stress has already been linked to cancer and other problems. But the latest study is said to be the first to show a biological connection between having an anxious disposition and greater threat from cancer.

Dr Dhabhar now wants to see whether countering the effects of anxiety and stress can improve the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

Taking an anxiety medication such as valium for limited periods of time might be helpful, he said.

"Ultimately, we really want to harness the patient's mind and body while doing everything that medicine can from the outside to maximise treatment success," said Dr Dhabhar.

Girls as young as 13 could be offered the contraceptive pill at pharmacies without needing a prescription, an NHS report has suggested.

It follows a pilot scheme which found the number of women needing emergency contraception "dropped significantly" in the year following the introduction of over-the-counter access to the pill.

The report, by NHS South East London, said the trial was successful in reaching its target group of black British, Caribbean and African women aged between 20 and 24 and those who had not previously used oral contraception.

The study was carried out at five pharmacies in the Southwark and Lambeth boroughs of south London, which have some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe, and the highest in the capital.

OPINION: Leave your comments below

The report said those who used it had valued the convenience of the service and the anonymity it offered.

It recommended it be expanded to other pharmacies around the country and also consider offering it to teenagers aged between 13 and 16.

In 2010 another scheme to allow girls as young as 13 to receive the pill on the Isle of Wight caused controversy.

It allowed teenagers who visited the chemist for the morning-after pill to also get a month's supply of the contraceptive pill.
Dr Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship criticised the London study.

He told the BBC: "There is no clear evidence from this study that it will reduce unplanned pregnancy and abortion and there is a real risk that, by encouraging more risk-taking behaviour, it could fuel the epidemic of sexually-transmitted disease."

The self-service checkouts were designed to speed up lengthy queues – but supermarkets have unwittingly created a generation of self-service shoplifters.

A recent study of nearly 5,000 people by watchmywallet.co.uk revealed that a third of Brits steal food items by slipping them into their bag without passing the food through the scanner.

Other indiscretions reported in the study ranged from opportunistic to brazen.

Just over 2% admitted to tampering with the scales when paying for something by weight, 7% bagged an item without scanning it first and 5% claimed to have simply walked away from the checkout without paying.

Although the machine is able to detect an ‘unexpected item in bagging area’ when the food has not been scanned, shop assistant tend to swiftly override the ‘error’ allowing the self-service cheat to sneak off with their purchases.

And if they’re not pinching the food items, they are shaving pennies off the price by ‘tricking’ the machine into thinking they are purchasing lower cost goods or selecting ‘small’ instead of ‘large’ when scanning items such as salad boxes.

Have you ever stolen from a self-service checkout?

Worried about levels of heart attack-inducing animals fats in your diet? Well, Chinese scientists have cloned a genetically modified sheep containing a ''good'' type of fat found naturally in nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens, reports Reuters, to help reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.

According to Boing Boing, the sheep was born in a laboratory in China's far western region of Xinjiang and can be seen on a video display at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen, southern China.

A cleverly curated selection of Pinterest posts that will bring a smile to every woman's face.

Wondering how to shed a few pounds and make your life healthier this spring? Then nutritionist Christine Avanti has one piece of advice for you: "Get out of the centre aisle of the supermarket, and start buying real food!"

The chef, author and Food Network health consultant has had enough of people eating processed foods while trying to maintain a healthy diet, and her new book, "Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food," aims to make sure people understand that "real food" means things that don't come out of a box or contain refined sugars posing as natural ones.

She's backed up by plenty of heavyweights in the food world, including Michael Pollan, whose "eat food, not too much, mostly plants" rules have informed a whole new generation of eaters. But Avanti's emphasis lies in the hormonal aspect of weight loss and nutrition -- namely, preventing the blood sugar spikes that can lead to the burning of muscle instead of fat.

"When we’re hypoglycemic, blood sugar levels are low," Avanti explained to The Huffington Post Canada. "When they’re low, the body breaks down muscle tissue and liver tissue, which then slows down metabolic rate, and it unteaches your body to break down fat and it teaches your body to break down muscle."

She also notes the emotional changes that can take place thanks to hypoglycemia, including mood swings, anxiety, depression, lack of concentration and "every kind of craving you can think of -- it's not a good place to be."

Avanti's tricks to keep blood sugar stabilized include adding a spoonful of cinnamon to almost anything, as it actually helps break down sugar 20 times faster, and splashing some coconut oil into teas and coffees. The lauric acid contained in the coconut helps with immunity, and has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities as well.

The 30 foods below are what Avanti terms "hunger busters" -- foods under 50 calories per serving size that can be added to meals without worrying about packing on calories, or eaten as a snack with a dash of vinegar to stabilize blood sugar:

Eggplant
Eggplants contain water-insoluble fibre, which adds bulk to the diet and helps our bowels 'exercise.'

Onions
Onions contain a nutrient called allicin, which can help lower blood pressure and prevent cancer.

Alfalfa Sprouts
These tiny sprouts are mild diuretics to help cleanse the kidney and also regulate bowel movement.

Tomatoes
Tomatoes are well-known for their carotenoids, and can help increase insulin sensitivity and prevent stress-related weight gain in the abdomen.

Artichokes
Artichokes contain inulin, which is a type of carbohydrate that has been shown to decrease the hunger hormone ghrelin. "It stops you from feeling hungry, helps stabilize blood sugar, and then they also have a certain compound that actually help detox the liver," says Avanti.

Spinach
A good source of fibre, spinach also has a ton of vitamin K, which helps with blood clotting and coagulation.

Cabbage
With lots of fibre, cabbage aids the performance of the digestive system, therefore helping clean the stomach and intestines of toxins.

Broccoli
Broccoli, according to Avanti's book, is a source of water-insoluble fibre that aids the growth of gut bacteria, organisms that eat sugars and fibre and prevent the proliferation of bad bacteria that can make us sick.

Asparagus
Asparagus is a serious disease killer -- it's been linked to fewer incidences of heart disease, colon cancer, liver disease, and spina bifida.

Lettuce
Lettuce is, frankly, a good filler food -- it has fibre in it to help digestion, and the darker the leaves, the better it is for you.

Parsley
Parlsey may be thought of as a garnish, but this herb helps cleanse the kidney, aids in digestion of protein and fats and boost immunity.

Peppers

Radishes
The amylase in radishes has been found to aid in the digestion of carbohydrates, so can be a good addition to any pasta meal.

Sauerkraut
The fermentation process that creates sauerkraut has the great side effect of creating lactic acid, which helps stimulate the pancreas, reduce blood pressure, promote healthy sleep and help alleviate constipation.

Zucchini
Zucchini is full of fibre, helping move things through the intestines, and it also fills more filling than it is in terms of calories, helping keep you from snacking.

Green Beans
Green beans have plenty of vitamin C, along with antioxidants like carotenoids and flavonoids that fight off free radicals in the body.

Tomato Paste
The heating up of tomatoes to make tomato paste can actually make its antioxidants more available to the body -- and as a bonus, tomato paste has been found to help prevent sunburns.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms contain some surprising nutrients, like selenium (which has been found to combat bladder cancer), vitamin D, and vitamins B1 and B2, which help the body burn energy.

Cucumber
Cucumbers contain fibre, vitamin A and vitamin C, but it's really the texture and surprising hardiness of these veggies that make them a great snack.

Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are hugely nutritious, beneficially impacting cholesterol, stress and cancer prevention. For weight loss, it's the amount of fibre in the sprouts that helps with digestion, preventing constipation and keeping blood sugar in check.

Bok Choy
The calcium, potassium, vitamin C and folic acid in bok choy made this cousin of cabbage a serious nutritional powerhouse.

Coleslaw
Usually consisting of shredded cabbage and carrots, Avanti recommends this as a "hunger buster," ideal with a hint of vinegar to snack on between meals.

Kale
Like Brussels sprouts, kale works with the fibre compounds and bile acid in the stomach to help get rid of that acid, and therefore lower cholesterol -- particularly when it's steamed.

Leeks
Part of the onion and garlic family, leeks can be used in almost any dish, and are known for their 'low energy density' -- very few calories packed into something that can fill you up.

Pumpkin
Alpha-carotene has been correlated with the slowing of aging, and pumpkin has plenty to spare -- meanwhile, the fibre in the gourd, whether raw or from a can, helps with weight loss.

Relish
Pickle relish can add to a meal easily, and its fermented qualities can act as probiotics for your digestive tract. Just be sure to stay away from the 'sweet' option, which usually uses high fructose corn syrup.

Cauliflower
Full of calcium and low in calories, cauliflower is an easy to any side dish or main -- or as a snack with a dash of low-sodium soy sauce.

Celery
Lots of vitamin C means celery helps with immunity as well as fighting free radicals. Its low calorie count has long been suspected to result in "negative" calories -- which apparently is true, though it would require many stalks to make a real difference in weight.

Turnips
Though turnips really only have vitamin C and a bit of fibre to recommend them, they also don't have many calories associated with them, making them a quick and easy snack if you have them on hand.

Okra
Thanks to okra's "gelatinous" coating, it absorbs water and moves through the digestive system easily, taking with it toxins, cholesterol and bile.

Autism affects one out of every 88 American children and while there are available treatments for early intervention, there is no cure. A new government-funded study has found an experimental treatment is effective at reversing symptoms of autism in mice.