MYSTICAL WAY FOR MARRAIGE

Matching horoscopes is passé. Couples about to get hitched are going in for a range of exotic compatibility tests from angel therapy to foot reading.


Medieval reception thrones are being traded for linenclad head tables, chhaas is getting nudged out by champagne and shehnai is being remixed with Shakira. With the big fat Indian wedding becoming a confluence of different cultures, little wonder that premarital screening too has got just as eclectic. The pandit matching horoscopes now has competition, and how — from I Ching, Scandinavian runes, crystal ball gazing, aura reading, and foot reading. Of course, most who sign up for these sessions before they tie the knot say they did it out of curiosity. But that's another story.

CHINESE WHISPERS

The ancient Chinese fortune-telling practice of I Ching describes the order of events in a person's life. Meena Shah, an I Ching card reader for over a decade, says the practice has been formulated on the elements of Heaven, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire and River. If a prospective bride's card represents water and the groom's card fire, it might be bad news since water douses fire. "Most want to know if their marriage will last," she says. "Many are also curious if they will be sexually compatible." Shah gets 10 to 30 cases of pre-marital compatibility a month.

ANGEL DIARIES

Angel therapy is based on the belief that each individual is born with a guardian angel. "Often we get messages through dreams or intuitions. Angels have different ways of communicating, and need us to reach out," says Tamanna C, an angel therapist. She facilitates interaction between a person and his or her angel to know the right step ahead, especially when they're poised to take a decision like marriage. Agrees a client who took a session before her wedding, "All you have is a bio-data, photograph and couple of meetings to take a call that is for life. You need some kind of assurance."

SOLE TO SOUL

When in two minds about a prospect, fold your legs, take a deep breath and stare at your foot. Darshan Joshi, a foot reader, assures that all the answers lie in your sole. Joshi, who learnt the art of foot reading from his forefathers, says that a majority of his clients come to seek answers about compatibility. "A person's future is determined by the lines on his or her sole," he says. "Some common signs are the trishul (which symbolises a spiritual bent), and the shankh (which betrays a wavering mind).''

SIGNATURE SECRETS

Much before student Rashi Mehta was to sign on her marriage certificate,she asked her fiancé to sign on a piece of paper. "I got his handwriting analysed and discovered things I'd probably have taken years to figure," she says. Graphologist Hetal Devang, explains that handwriting reflects a person's subconscious mind. "It is used in pre-marital tests to understand a person's innate characteristics. If you encircle the first letter in your signature, it could mean that you're comfortable in your surroundings and not open to change and if you underline it more than once, it betrays low self-esteem."

VIEW FROM SCANDINAVIA

Futhark,a set of 24 Scandinavian runes or crystal stones with inscriptions, is providing answers to doubts about marital bliss. The runes are cast on a mat to discern future events or path that a problem will take.Hetal Devang,who uses this technique,says the runes can outline a person's characteristics or be indicative of a mentality. In rune reading, a person's energies are tapped to provide answers to questions. "We use it simply as a guiding force," she says."It is up to the person to decide whether s/he wants to pursue the reading."

I WILL GIVE YOU ALL

I am thinking of you
In my sleepless solitude tonight

If it's wrong to love you
Then my heart just won't let me right

Cause I've drowned in you
And I won't pull through
Without you by my side

I'd give my all to have
Just one more night with you


I'd risk my life to feel
Your body next to mine

Cause I can't go on
Living in the memory of our song
I'd give my all for your love tonight

Baby can you feel me
Imagining I'm looking in your eyes

I can see you clearly
Vividly emblazoned in my mind

And yet you're so far
Like a distant star
I'm wishing on tonight

I'd give my all to have
Just one more night with you

I'd risk my life to feel
Your body next to mine

Cause I can't go on
Living in the memory of our song

I'd give my all for your love tonight
I'd give my all to have

Just one more night with you
I'd risk my life to feel

Your body next to mine
Cause I can't go on

Living in the memory of our song
I'd give my all for your love tonight

Give my all for your loveTonight

BE MY BABY

We were as one
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine
Now you want to be here

So I'll let you fly
'Cause I know in my heart
Our love will never die
You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Boy don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby

And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're ever gonna shake me
Oh darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby

I aint gonna cry
And I won't beg you to stay
If you're determined to leave boy
I will not stand in your way
But inevitably you'll be back again
'Cause you know in your heart babe
Our love will never end

You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Boy don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby

And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're ever gonna shake me
Oh darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby


I know that you'll be back boy
When your days and your nights get a little bit colder
I know that you'll be back baby
Oh baby believe me it's only a matter of time

You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Boy don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby

And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're ever gonna shake me
Oh darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby

LIGHT

Light
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life;
the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love;
the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light.
Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling,
and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling,
and gladness without measure.
The heaven's river has drowned its banks
and the flood of joy is abroad.

POWER OF ONE

THE POWER OF ONE !

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal

One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey.
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what ' s true,
One life can make a difference,
You see, it ' s up to you!

U R AN ART

Your lips, your eyes, your soul Are like a work of art



Your lips, your eyes, your soul
Are like a work of art,
The most creative thing of all
Is your beautiful heart.



If you were a painting,
No colours could express
The beauty deep inside you,
A rainbow, nothing less.


If you were a sculpture
The clay could hardly make
Your figure of an angel Without one mistake.


If you were a euphony
No choir could really sing
All the beautiful music
Your eyes could possibly bring.


So here I am, an artist,
With inspiration beyond belief
But to capture such rare beauty,
I'd have to be a thief.

YOU ARE MY DREAMS

You Are Whole Of My Beautiful Dreams...!!

You are whole of my beautiful dreams,
put together, and rolled into one.
You're the moon and stars in my sky,
and the light of my morning sun..


You're my first thought in the morning,
and my very last thought each night.
Dreams of you hold me through my day;
bring comfort to me, until morning light.

You have brought me a world of love,
which fills every emotion within me.
A world I always knew could exist,
but not one, I ever thought I would see.

A beautiful world that can only be seen,
through the hearts of two joined as one.
One that paints all of the colors of love,
more deeply within, as each day is done.

A portrait of love, captured by my heart,
and reflected so deeply into my soul.
Embracing me within beautiful dreams,
from love so precious, it makes me whole.

21st century girls

21st CENTURY GIRLS
CD-ROM GIRLS
She is always faster and faster.



EMAIL GIRLS
Every ten things she says, eight are nonsense .


HARD DISK GIRLS
she remembers everything, FOREVER

INTERNET GIRLS
Difficult to access

MULTIMEDIA GIRLS
She make horrible thing look beautiful

SCREENSAVER GIRLS
She is good for nothing but at least she is fun

RAM GIRLS
she forget about you, the moment turn her off

WINDOW GIRLS
everyone know that she can't do a thing right, but no one can live without her.

VIRUS GIRLS
Also known as "wife'' when you are not expecting her,
she comes, install herself and uses all your resources.
If you try to uninstall
her you will lose something,
if don't try you uninstall her you will lose everything...

SERVER GIRLS
Always busy when you need her

DEATH

"Certain magicians or sorcerers have the reputation for bringing
back the dead. Actually, these are not true resurrections: these
sorcerers know of certain methods by which they are able to call
up entities living on earth or underground, which they introduce
into the corpse to bring it back to life. It is not the dead
person's spirit returning but other entities they got to enter
the body and kept there for a certain time with their spells.
All those who are said to have been brought back to life were
not actually dead, even if they were thought to be because their
heart had stopped beating. True death occurs not when the heart
stops beating but when it has lost its warmth. When breathing
stops, it is still not death. So long as the heart remains warm,
humans can be brought back to life by massage or some other
treatment, or even by means of divine magic. But when warmth
departs from the heart and the silver cord which connects the
physical body to the etheric and astral bodies is severed,
nothing more can be done to bring them back to life."

IMPORTANT

Health - Very Very Important Tips

Answer the phone by LEFT ear.
Do not drink coffee TWICE a day.
Do not take pills with COOL water.
Do not have HUGE meals after 5pm.
Reduce the amount of OILY food you consume.
Drink more WATERin the morning, less at night.
Keep your distance from hand phone CHARGERS.
Do not use headphones/earphone for LONG period of time.
Best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning.
Do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping.
When battery is down to the LAST grid/bar, do not answer the phone as the radiation is 1000 times.



Here are some healthy tip for your smartness & physical fitness. Prevention is better than cure.HEALTHY JUICES

Carrot + Ginger + Apple -Boost and cleanse our system.


Apple + Cucumber + Celery - Prevent cancer, reduce cholesterol, and eliminate stomach upset and headache.


Tomato + Carrot + Apple-Improve skin complexion and eliminate bad breath.


Bitter gou rd + Apple + Milk - Avoid bad breath and reduce internal body heat..


Orange + Ginger + Cucumber - Improve Skin texture and moisture and reduce body heat.


Pineapple + Apple + Watermelon -To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidney.


Apple + Cucumber + Kiwi -To improve skin complexion.


Pear & Banana - regulates sugar content.


Carrot + Apple + Pear + Mango -Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidization ..


Honeydew + Grape + Watermelon + Milk - Rich in vitamin C + Vitamin B2 that increase cell activity and str engthen body immunity.


Papaya + Pineapple + Milk-Rich in vitamin C, E, Iron. Improve skin complexion and metabolism.


Banana + Pineapple + Milk-Rich in vitamin with nutritious and prevent constipation

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Quite interesting!
Keep Walking.....

Jus to check this out......
The Organs of your body have their sensory touches at the bottom of your foot, if you massage these points you will find relief from aches and pains as you can see the heart is on the left foot.




Typically they are shown as points and arrows to show which organ it connects to.

It is indeed correct since the nerves connected to these organs terminate here.

This is covered in great details in Acupressure studies or textbooks.

God created our body so well... He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.

So, keep walking...









Did You Know?

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Blood type and Rh
How many people have it?
O +
40 %
O -
7 %
A +
34 %
A -
6 %
B +
8 %
B -
1 %
AB +
3 %
AB -
1 %
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Does Your Blood Type Reveal Your Personality?
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Accord ing to a Japanese institute that does research on blood types, there are certain personality traits that seem to match up with certain blood types. How do you rate?
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TYPE O
You want to be a leader, and when you see something you want, you keep striving until you achieve your goal. You are a trend-setter, loyal, passionate, and self-confident. Your weaknesses include vanity and jealously and a tendency to be too competitive.
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TYPE A
You like harmony, peace and organization. You work well with others, and are sensitive, patient and affectionate.. Among your weaknesses are stubbornness and an inability to relax.
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TYPE B
You're a rugged individualist, who's str aightforwa rd and likes to do things your own way. Creative and flexible, you adapt easily to any situation. But your insistence on being independent can sometimes go too far and become a weakness.
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TYPE AB
Cool and controlled, you're generally well liked and always put people at ease. You're a natural entertainer who's tactful and fair. But you're standoffish, blunt, and have difficulty making decisions.
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MOST IMPORTANT INFO NOW:


REGARDS, MANIKANDAN,
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You Can Receive
If Your Type Is
O-
O+
B-
B+
A-
A+
AB-
AB+
AB+
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
AB-
YES
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YES
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YES
YES
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A+
YES
YES
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YES
YES
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A-

health benefit for sex

Health benefits of sex

The uninitiated keep wondering how it feels, the more seasoned ones vow by its pleasures and no one can ever say NO to it—yes, I am talking about Sex.

Though it occupies the human mind unlike anything else, it seems that most people don’t realize that sex isn't just about fulfilling your carnal desires. There is sufficient, unquestionable scientific proof that underlines the health benefits of sex. In fact, sex surfaces as one of the most comprehensive and effective activities you can indulge in from a health perspective. Some of the most documented and proven health benefits of sex have been listed below:

Sex Boosts Your Immunity
The principle of your mind and body’s health being interrelated is best exemplified by sex. For starters, the act raises the synthesis of immunoglobulins. These are antibodies or our immunity compounds that help us fight infections. People with a more-than-basic level of sexual activities, per week, tend to retain a higher immunoglobulin concentration, making them more immune to common infections.
Sex Alleviates Common Infertility Problems
With stressful lifestyles, many men are prone to suffering from lowered sperm count or poor semen quality. These are serious barriers for couples trying to conceive. It has been researched that regular and enjoyable sex helps men to overcome these issues. Their semen improves in quality and quantity and the stress-relieving properties of sex ensure that their sperm is healthier, more motile and penetrable. The act of sex ensures that blood is properly circulated across the body, including the penile tissues, and absorption of nutrients is more uniform.

Sex Relieves Stress

Overall reduction of stress is perhaps the biggest, most widely-accepted benefit of sex. It is believed that higher anxiety and stress levels are responsible for initiating most health problems prevalent today. With regular sex, psychological health is improved, particularly problemsrelated to mood swings, depression and sleep. The act of intercourse helps to stimulate production of hormones that are required for overcoming stress and ensuring healthier behavior.
Sex Keeps You Physically Fitter
Sex has an amazing calorie-burning and cardiovascular conditioning effect. It exercises nearly every muscle of the body, including areas like the abdomen, hips and thighs that are the common weight-gain areas for most people. Sex might not help you become muscular but it works-out the body in a beautiful manner. The increased supply of blood means that the body has a greater chance of eliminating waste products and providing nourishment in a more balanced manner to various organs. Increased levels of sexual hormones help to fortify the muscles and bones with critical nourishment. These hormones help to prevent onset of heart diseases. Working the pelvic muscles, intercourse helps to prevent conditions like incontinence and hernias.
Sex Gives Your Skin Unique Radiance
It is usually thought that only women have the after-glow that is essentially a result of their hormones being produced aplenty during sex. However, this is applicable to men too. Yes, sex behaves like a psychological and physical boost for the human body. The circulation of blood rises, more oxygen is pumped into the body and sexual hormones are released copiously. The result is a sort of radiance that the best of moisturizers and make-up kits cannot compete with. It seems to take off years from your face, making you appear refreshed and cheerful.

Sex is an Instant Pain-killer

The feeling of happiness that accompanies and follows intercourse is due to the rise in the secretion of endorphins. These hormones are required for establishing a relaxed state of mind. Sex also induces release of oxytocin, which along withendorphin, is one of nature’s most potent painkillers—everything from unexplained bodyache to serious conditions like arthritic or PMS pains can be relieved. (Health, MensXP.com)

computer browsings

Internet 2011 in numbers

Posted in Main on January 17th, 2012 by Pingdom


So what happened with the Internet in 2011? How many email accounts were there in the world in 2011? How many websites? How much did the most expensive domain name cost? How many photos were hosted on Facebook? How many videos were viewed to YouTube?

We’ve got answers to these questions and many more. A veritable smorgasbord of numbers, statistics and data lies in front of you. Using a variety of sources we’ve compiled what we think are some of the more interesting numbers that describe the Internet in 2011.

Email

3.146 billion – Number of email accounts worldwide.
27.6% – Microsoft Outlook was the most popular email client.
19% – Percentage of spam emails delivered to corporate email inboxes despite spam filters.
112 – Number of emails sent and received per day by the average corporate user.
71% – Percentage of worldwide email traffic that was spam (November 2011).
360 million – Total number of Hotmail users (largest email service in the world).
$44.25 – The estimated return on $1 invested in email marketing in 2011.
40 – Years since the first email was sent, in 1971.
0.39% – Percentage of email that was malicious (November 2011).
Websites

555 million – Number of websites (December 2011).
300 million – Added websites in 2011.
Web servers

239.1% – Growth in the number of Apache websites in 2011.
68.7% – Growth in the number of IIS websites in 2011.
34.4% – Growth in the number of NGINX websites in 2011.
80.9% – Growth in the number of Google websites in 2011.


Domain names

95.5 million – Number of .com domain names at the end of 2011.
13.8 million – Number of .net domain names at the end of 2011.
9.3 million – Number of .org domains names at the end of 2011.
7.6 million – Number of .info domain names at the end of 2011.
2.1 million – Number of .biz domain names at the end of 2011.
220 million – Number of registered domain names (Q3, 2011).
86.9 million – Number of country code top-level domains (.CN, .UK, .DE, etc.) (Q3, 2011).
324 – Number of top-level domains.
28% – Market share for BIND, the number one DNS server type.
$2.6 million – The price for social.com, the most expensive domain name sold in 2011.
Internet users

2.1 billion – Internet users worldwide.
922.2 million – Internet users in Asia.
476.2 million – Internet users in Europe.
271.1 million – Internet users in North America.
215.9 million – Internet users in Latin America / Caribbean.
118.6 million – Internet users in Africa.
68.6 million – Internet users in the Middle East.
21.3 million – Internet users in Oceania / Australia.
45% – Share of Internet users under the age of 25.
485 million – Number of Internet users in China, more than any other country in the world.
36.3% – Internet penetration in China.
591 million – Number of fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions worldwide.




Social media

800+ million – Number of users on Facebook by the end of 2011.
200 million – Number of users added to Facebook during 2011.
350 million – Number of Facebook users that log in to the service using their mobile phone.
225 million – Number of Twitter accounts.
100 million – Number of active Twitter users in 2011.
18.1 million – People following Lady Gaga. Twitter’s most popular user.
250 million – Number of tweets per day (October 2011).
1 – #egypt was the number one hashtag on Twitter.
8,868 – Number of tweets per second in August for the MTV Video Music Awards.
$50,000 – The amount raised for charity by the most retweeted tweet of 2011.
39 million – The number of Tumblr blogs by the end of 2011.
70 million – Total number of WordPress blogs by the end of 2011.
1 billion – The number of messages sent with WhatsApp during one day (October 2011).
2.6 billion – Worldwide IM accounts.
2.4 billion – Social networking accounts worldwide.
Web browsers



Mobile

1.2 billion – The number of active mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide in 2011.
5.9 billion – The estimated number of mobile subscriptions worldwide in 2011.
85% – Percentage of handsets shipped globally in 2011 that included a web browser.
88% – Apple iPad’s share of global tablet web traffic in December.
Videos

1 trillion – The number of video playbacks on YouTube.
140 – The number of YouTube video playbacks per person on Earth.
48 hours – The amount of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
1 – The most viewed video on YouTube during 2011 was Rebecka Black’s “Friday.”
82.5% – Percentage of the U.S. Internet audience that viewed video online.
76.4% – YouTube’s share of the U.S. video website market (December 2011).
4,189,214 – Number of new users on Vimeo.
201.4 billion – Number of videos viewed online per month (October 2011).
88.3 billion – Videos viewed per month on Google sites, incl. YouTube (October 2011).
43% – Share of all worldwide video views delivered by Google sites, incl. YouTube.
Images

14 million – Number of Instagram accounts created during 2011.
60 – The average number of photos uploaded per second to Instagram.
100 billion – Estimated number of photos on Facebook by mid-2011.
51 million – Total number of registered users on Flickr.
4.5 million – Number of photos uploaded to Flickr each day.
6 billion – Photos hosted on Flickr (August 2011).
1 – Apple iPhone 4 is the most popular camera on Flickr.
What’s in store for 2012?

For 2012, there’s every reason to think that the Internet, by any measure, will keep growing. As we put more of our personal as well as professional lives online, we will come to rely on the Internet in ways we could hardly imagine before. For better or worse, the Internet is now a critical component in almost everything we do.

HEALTH FOR WOMAN

The health commandments all women should know based on research examining more than a MILLION of us


Even a small glass of wine a day increases the risk of breast cancer. That was the shocking news for women earlier this month from the Million Women Study, a survey of female health involving 1.3 million British women aged 50 and over.


Run by Oxford University scientists, it was set up in 1996 to examine the effects of HRT and possible links to cancer and other diseases. Already the study has produced key findings about health issues - from the Pill to alcohol consumption and childbearing.


Combined with other women's health research, all this information works as a blueprint for women's future wellbeing. Here VICTORIA LAMBERT reveals some of the important things all women should know...

DON'T BE TOO CLEAN
Around 30 per cent of British women don't wash their hands enough for good hygiene, according to studies by the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

However, soap and water are sufficient - and using too many high-tech anti-bacterial products can be counter-productive.

Not only will they not stop colds and flu (which are transmitted by viruses, not bacteria), but they could affect the delicate balance of bacteria in our bodies, allowing stronger bugs to become dominant, says leading American microbiologist Dr Mary Ruebush, author of Why Dirt Is Good.

Most micro-organisms cause no problem, and many, like the ones that normally live in the digestive tract and produce life-sustaining nutrients, are essential to good health - these are the ones, she says, that are usually wiped out by anti-bacterial agents.


GO ON THE PILL
It will dramatically cut your risk of ovarian cancer, the silent killer, as the Million Women Study found. Furthermore, you will continue to be protected for at least 30 years after you stop. The study has shown that for every five years a woman has been on the Pill, her relative risk of ovarian cancer is cut by 20 per cent.

Those who take it for 15 years cut their risk by half.


DRINK TEA
Gum disease is emerging as a major factor in heart disease. The germs in the mouth create thousands of tiny blood clots, which can cause a narrowing of the arteries, a common cause of heart attacks.

With cardiovascular disease killing more women a year than breast cancer, it's essential to keep gum disease at bay. One of the best ways to fight cavities and reduce plaque - a precursor to gum disease - is drinking black tea. American researchers have found compounds in it not only kill cavity-causing bacteria in dental plaque, but affect an enzyme - glucosyltranferase - which helps convert sugars into the sticky material plaque uses to stick to teeth.

On exposure to black tea, bacteria also lose their ability to form clumps with other bacteria in plaque, thereby reducing the total mass of the dental plaque.


TAKE FOLIC ACID
It's a supplement most women associate with preventing birth defects - you should take 400 mcgs for at least the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. But it also reduces the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in women. AMD is a progressive eye disorder which is often untreatable, and leads to blindness.

Now the world-renowned Harvard Medical School has shown folic acid taken with vitamins B6 and B12 reduced the risk of this debilitating condition by a staggering 41 per cent. 'The beneficial effect of treatment began to emerge at approximately two years of follow-up and persisted throughout the sevenyear trial,' said the researchers.

In the trial, participants (who were aged over 40) took a daily 2.5 milligrams of folic acid, 50 mgs of vitamin B6 and 1 mg of vitamin B12.


Relax with a cup of tea: It helps protect against gum disease, which is a major factor governing our risk of a heart attack

AVOID COLA DRINKS
Diet colas often contain phosphate in the form of phosphoric acid, used to improve the flavour (it's labelled as E338 on the ingredients list). But phosphoric acid has been shown to interfere with calcium absorption.

According to the highly regarded Framingham Osteoporosis Study, there is a particular link between colas and low bone mineral density in older women. The research found bone density in women who consumed just five carbonated drinks (including four colas) a week was 4 per cent lower.

'This is quite significant when you are talking about the skeleton,' said Katherine Tucker, at the Human Nutrition Research Centre on Ageing at Tufts University. The National Osteoporosis Society recommends women cut their intake of fizzy drinks.

DON'T GET TOO THIN
According to the Million Women Study, the ideal body mass index (BMI) is about 24. For a woman of 5ft 4in (the average national height) this would mean weighing ten stone. While the adverse effects of obesity have been well documented (it is a risk factor for breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes), less well known is the effect of being underweight.

However, it is known to affect fertility, for instance: women with a BMI below 18.5 are less likely to conceive. Underweight women (BMI under 19) are more likely to develop osteoporosis.


AVOID HRT
Over the past few years there have been various scare stories about hormone replacement therapy. The bottom line seems to be that it protects against some conditions - heart disease, osteoporosis, leg ulcers and bowel cancer.

However, the Million Women study found the combined form of oestrogen and progestogen heightens your risk of breast cancer (although this extra risk goes once you stop taking it). The oestrogen-only form of HRT is not as risky.

The oestrogen-only form increases the risk of endometrial cancer, while both forms raise the risk of ovarian cancer.



DON'T SMOKE
Not only will this protect you against lung cancer, but perhaps surprisingly, against cervical cancer, too.Women who smoke are twice as likely to get the disease.


Cervical cancer is linked to infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV). The theory is that nicotine accumulates in cervical mucus and subsequently impairs the local defences against HPV, and cancer. It may also be that smoking also depresses the immune system.

So while the death of Jade Goody has led to a rise in the number of women asking for cervical smears, stopping smoking is also important.

SOAK UP THE SUN IF YOU WANT BABIES...
A major cause of infertility in women is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which can cause erratic ovulation. Many women who are suffering from it or who are not ovulating for unexplained reasons are deficient in vitamin D, says fertility consultant Zita West. She has just conducted a one-year clinic audit, and found 50 per cent of women tested were deficient - only 12 per cent were in the ideal range.

Researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine found when women with irregular periods were given extra vitamin D, the risk of developing PCOS and abnormal ovulation fell dramatically (by 99 and 93 per cent respectively).


While anxiety about skin damage, or even skin cancer, might put many women off spending time in the sun, UV rays are our main source of vitamin D; 20 minutes a day can be enough to help our bodies make this vitamin.

Start young: Have two babies in your twenties to help stop breast cancer

...BUT WATCH YOUR MEDICINES
Some common prescription drugs, as well as over-the-counter medications, can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight, leading it to burn.


These include antibiotics, types of cholesterol, high blood pressureand diabetes medication, birth control pills, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) including ibuprofen, and even acne medication such as Accutane (isotretinoin). Take extra care if in the sun.


EAT MORE BANANAS
A quarter of middle-aged women suffer from depression or anxiety, according to the Mental Health foundation.


Depression is linked to low levels of serotonin, the 'happy hormone'.


A serotonin deficiency is often caused by a lack of the amino acid tryptophan - which the body cannot make itself.

Dr Caroline Longmore, author of The Serotonin Secret, believes the best way to stock up on serotonin is by eating lots of tryptophan-rich foods such as turkey, cottage cheese and bananas - and even plums. She suggests eating between four to 11 bananas a week.

DON'T DRINK A DROP
One of the key findings of the Million Women Study was that even one glass of wine a day can raise the risk of breast cancer from 9.5 per cent to

10.6 per cent (researchers estimate 5,000 cases of breast cancer annually are attributable to alcohol).

The study also revealed the risk of any type of cancer increased with increasing alcohol consumption, with the scientists concluding there was effectively no safe lower limit.

HAVE AT LEAST TWO CHILDREN IN YOUR 20s
the Million Women Study found that having children in your 20s reduces the risk of developing breast cancer by 7 per cent compared with other women. It concluded that if women had 2.5 children on average and breastfed each child for 12 months longer than they currently do, approximately 11 per cent (50,000) of breast cancers would be prevented annually.

The reduced exposure to oestrogen is probably a key factor (as pregnancy and breastfeeding reduce the amount of oestrogen, a hormone that can 'feed' cancer). The longer you breastfeed, the lower your risk.

For every 12 months of breastfeeding, your relative risk of breast cancer is reduced by 4.3 per cent, according to work by Cancer Research UK. Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of gallbladder disease by 7 per cent for each year.

A recent Swedish study also found long-term breastfeeding of one baby (more than 13 months) halved a woman's chance of rheumatoid arthritis. Even breastfeeding for a month lessened the chance by 25 per cent, although researchers were yet unable to say why.

TAKE UP WEIGHT TRAINING
As many as 70 per cent of women suffer from back pain some time in their lives, according to the British Chiropractic Association.

If you suffer lower back pain, your best hope of treating it comes through weight-bearing exercise such as dumb-bells and bar bells.

A recent American study found a 60 per cent improvement in pain and function levels for people with chronic backache who took part in a 16-week exercise programme of resistance training (compared with just 12 per cent for those doing aerobic exercise such as jogging or walking on a treadmill).

Weight training helps strengthen the entire body, including the abdominal muscles, so providing better support for the lower back.

BEWARE OF BLOATING
It's not just unsightly and uncomfortable - a bloated stomach could indicate a real health concern such as irritable bowel syndrome, suffered by about 10 per cent of the population, according to the Gut Trust, or Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease which may require surgery and life-long management.

Crucially, it can also be a symptom of ovarian cancer - known as the silent killer - for in 70-75 per cent of cases, it has spread to other parts of the abdomen before it is detected.

But a recent study by Dr Clare Bankhead, a research lecturer in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, found that as many as 86 per cent of women diagnosed by a specialist with ovarian cancer turned out to have had persistent distension of the abdomen - bloating - in advance of referral. Presence of persistent abdominal distension raised the risk.

HAVE SEX 200 TIMES A YEAR
American cardiologist Professor Mehmet Oz, of Columbia University, says: 'If you have more than 200 orgasms a year, you can reduce your physiologic age by six years.'

This extraordinary statistic is based on a survey looking at frequency of sex and overall health. Adds Professor Oz: 'Sexual activity... seems to offer some survival benefit.'

BE AS YOU ARE

There is something inside you that has NEVER been expressed before. There is a unique style, a huge love, a wonderful creativity and something eternal within you! Don't ruin this precious gift by thinking you should be a carbon copy of someone else. Be you and you will have all the protection and happiness you can imagine!

stress

Stress is evil and can only wreak havoc on our mind, body and spirit. One can learn to cope with the following survival kit:

I First, find out what's causing the stress. A relationship issue, financial loss, failure, an accident or a change that's not necessarily negative, like shifting to a new house, a marriage or a long trip can be the source. Some common stressors are a violent parent or spouse, a bullying boss, being trapped in a bad marriage or job, excessive workload or responsibilities, a medical illness or chronic pain, or memories from a trauma, like sexual abuse.

I It's equally important to become aware of your individual coping style. Find out what you perceive as the cause of stress and how you're emotionally responding to it.

I Once identified, you need to evaluate how many changes you could incorporate in your environment and even in yourself. The assessment has to be honest and realistic. You can seek advice from within the family or friends or take professional help.

I Learn to tell the difference between facts and fears.You can only deal with reality and then treat your fears! I

Don't constantly micromanage. Learn to accept uncertainty and your limitations in certain situations.

I Know your own limits — don't be too competitive or expect too much of yourself. ()

What Makes Love Last?

What Makes Love Last?



Couples at various stages of loving — from young lovers to mid-age partners, to those basking in the emotion in twilight years, give tips on how to keep the love going


IS there a recipe for love that lasts forever? After the heady rush of first love settles down, what keeps a relationship going? It can be many things, from a deep friendship to giving a partner space to pursue her dreams.

Designer Ravi Bajaj, 46, married his longtime love of 18 years, Binti Malhotra, 36, recently in a civil ceremony at Las Vegas. He says, “It was a spontaneous decision. We are soul mates. I met her when she was 18 and she is now 36; she has literally grown up with me. We work together and have been spending eight hours a day together, six days a week. Love is not really definable. It can mean trust, a comfort level, enjoying each other’s company, the ability to read each other’s minds and being sensitive. We’re both hugely practical and don’t look at each other with rose-tinted glasses. I don’t need to change myself to fit into her world… there’s zero effort and I love that.”

He adds, “There are no rules that I follow, but what I love about myself is the ability to be myself in every situation and with everybody. I am me — good, bad, ugly — there is no pretence.”




THE MIDDLE YEARS: Soulmates Ravi Bajaj and Binti Malhotra married spontaneously in Las Vegas after 18 years of courtship. Years of togetherness have ensured that there is no room for pretence when the couple is together


Love can also give you wings, as you fuel each other’s dreams. This is what works for television’s young ‘it’ couple, Mahi Vij and Jay Bhanushali. Says Mahi, “Love means being willing to compromise and through that, your relationship improves too. We enjoy doing things together, whether it is dancing or eating out.” Adds Jay, “What attracted me to Mahi was the fact that she respected elders. She also visited me at home one day and cooked for me. I cherish the fact that we push each other to reach higher in our careers.”



YOUNG LOVE: Mahi Vij and Jay Bhanushali are looking forward to a lifetime of togetherness as they build a foundation for love and their nascent careers


Psychiatrist Rajan Bhonsle believes love evolves at different stages of the relationship, from being hormone-driven when you’re young to a harmonious companionship in later years if you’ve successfully tided over the rough spots. He explains, “There is a lot of physical attraction
a n d high romance when young. As you mature, you realise there is life beyond love. As you turn practical, you try to convert the other to your liking. If you survive the fights in your mid-life, which is when most divorces happen, you can look forward to a life of mutual respect and harmony.”

Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in New Jersey divides love into three stages. The first is lust, driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen. The second stage the love-struck phase and the third is of attachment, which requires a lasting commitment and tells if a relationship is going to last.

Model and grooming expert N aya n i k a Chatterjee has been married several years and says the meaning of love changes at different stages. “At the start of a relationship, it is based on attraction, and later rests on compatibility. Love has no formula, but just like you have to maintain a home, you have to maintain a relationship, or it can disintegrate. You have to constantly work towards it. Realising a problem is a step towards solving it. And remember, the blame game is worst. Also, choose your battles and let go of those that are not so important.” Nayanika, who lives with her in-laws, has this advice to offer. “The relationship needs maturity on both sides to work. Respect the relationship for what it is and don’t try to see more into it.

Expectation is the root of all problems.” If you’re looking for love, work on making yourself a happier person and living a full life. When the right person comes along, you’ll instinctively recognise the signs, as a c t r e s s C e l i n a Ja i t l ey ex p e r i - enced with fiancé Peter Haag. Says Celina, “Even before Peter and I met, our mutual friends knew we were soulmates. As the great poet Rumi said, ‘Lovers don't finally meet somewhere, they are in each other all along’. We just knew.” On finding and keeping love, she advises, “Self-love is not only necessary; it is a very important prerequisite for loving others.” Do past relationships teach you how to love better? Says Celina, “The best thing is to release the emotional blocks which keep us from allowing love.”



JUST ENGAGED: When Celina Jaitley met Peter Haag she knew he was ‘the one’. Past relationships have taught Celina to release emotional blocks and allow love to enter her life

Thespian Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu have been married over 40 years. Despite the age gap of 20 years between them, the marriage has stood the test of time. Says Saira, “I don’t think love can be defined. I would say love means giving attention and care to your partner if he is worthy of it. I have been blessed with the man I dreamed of marrying from the age of 12 and we have both given a lot to the relationship to grow stronger and happier with each passing year. I have cherished every moment I have spent in his company be it during our travelling to beautiful places in India and abroad or at home with our family members.”



THE TWILIGHT YEARS: Saira Banu can’t do without Dilip Kumar, her husband of over 40 years. Saira says their relationship has grown from strength to strength. Today, she can’t live without him and wants him before her eyes always

She adds, “To me, he is not just my husband, he is a bundle of the five or six children I wanted God to give me. Today, I cannot be away from him for long. I want him before my eyes always. When we were both working sometimes we would be away from each other at different shooting locations doing our jobs. Then it was romantic, because we would wait to see each other and I would think of all that I would tell him when we would be together and the minute I would see him I would forget it all. Every marriage goes through its ups and downs, so I would tell all young couples to have patience and nourish the relationship with love that gives more than it demands.”

So, work at it and keep the love flowing!

laws of etiquette

Its a list of different rules of etiquette written over 100 years ago and some of the suggestions are a bit archaic and random, the advice is still strikingly resonant. It manages to cover many, many of the gaps in etiquette which have transformed society into a veritable Swiss cheese of incivility. If a man puts these suggestions into practice, he will definitely set himself apart for the other knuckleheads out there trying to land a job or catch the eye of a good looking gal.
Heres to becoming more refined gentlemen & Women!
Never exaggerate.
Never point at another.
Never betray a confidence.
Never leave home with unkind words.
Never neglect to call upon your friends.
Never laugh at the misfortunes of others.
Never give a promise that you do not fulfill.
Never send a present, hoping for one in return.
Never speak much of your own performances.
Never fail to be punctual at the time appointed.
Never make yourself the hero of your own story.
Never pick the teeth or clean the nails in company.
Never fail to give a polite answer to a civil question.
Never question a child about family matters.
Never present a gift saying that it is of no use to yourself.
Never read letters which you may find addressed to others.
Never fail, if a gentleman, of being civil and polite to ladies.
Never call attention to the features or form of anyone present.
Never refer to a gift you have made, or favor you have rendered.
Never associate with bad company. Have good company, or none.
Never look over the shoulder of another who is reading or writing.
Never appear to notice a scar, deformity, or defect of anyone present.
Never arrest the attention of an acquaintance by touch. Speak to him.
Never punish your child for a fault to which you are addicted yourself.
Never answer questions in general company that have been put to others.
Never, when traveling abroad, be over boastful in praise of your own country.
Never call a new acquaintance by their first name unless requested.
Never lend an article you have borrowed, unless you have permission to do so.
Never attempt to draw the attention of the company constantly upon yourself.
Never exhibit anger, impatience or excitement, when an accident happens.
Never pass between two persons who are talking together, without an apology.
Never enter a room noisily; never fail to close the door after you, and never slam it.
Never forget that, if you are faithful in a few things, you may be ruler over many.
Never exhibit too great familiarity with the new acquaintance, you may give offense.
Never will a gentleman allude to conquests which he may have made with ladies.
Never be guilty of the contemptible meanness of opening a private letter addressed to another.
Never fail to offer the easiest and best seat in the room to an invalid, an elderly person, or a lady.
Never neglect to perform the commission which the friend entrusted to you. You must not forget.
Never send your guest, who is accustomed to a warm room, off into a cold, damp, spare bed, to sleep.
Never enter a room filled with people, without a slight bow to the general company when first entering.
Never fail to answer an invitation, either personally or by letter, within a week after the invitation is received.
Never accept of favors and hospitality without rendering an exchange of civilities when opportunity offers.
Never cross the leg and put one foot in the street-car, or places where it will trouble others when passing by.
Never fail to tell the truth. If truthful, you get your reward. You will get your punishment if you deceive.
Never borrow money and neglect to pay. If you do, you will soon be known as a person of no business integrity.
Never write to another asking for information, or a favor of any kind, without enclosing a postage stamp for the reply.
Never fail to say kind and encouraging words to those whom you meet in distress. Your kindness may lift them out of their despair.
Never refuse to receive an apology. You may not receive friendship, but courtesy will require, when a apology is offered, that you accept it.
Never examine the
cards in the card-basket. While they may be exposed in the drawing room, you are not expected to turn them over unless invited to do so.
Never, when walking arm in arm with a lady, be continually changing and going to the other side, because of change of corners. It shows too much attention to form.
Never insult another with harsh words when applied to for a favor. Kind words do not cost much, and yet they may carry untold happiness to the one to whom they are spoken.
Never fail to speak kindly. If a merchant, and you address your clerk; if an overseer, and you address your workman; if in any position where you exercise authority, you show yourself to be a gentleman by your pleasant mode of address.
Never attempt to convey the impression that you are a genius, by imitating the faults of distinguished men. Because certain great men were poor penmen, wore long hair, or had other peculiarities, it does not follow that you will be great by imitating their eccentricities.
Never give all your pleasant words and smile to strangers. The kindest words and the sweetest smiles should be reserved for home. Home should be our heaven.

SOFTLY LOVE

Speak softly, love and hold me warm against your heart

I feel your words, the tender trembling moments start

We're in a world, our very own

Sharing a love that only few have ever known

Wine-colored days warmed by the sun

Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly, love so no one hears us but the sky

The vows of love we make will live until we die

My life is yours and all becau-au-se

You came into my world with love so softly love

Wine-colored days warmed by the sun

Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly, love so no one hears us but the sky

The vows of love we make will live until we die

My life is yours and all becau-au-se

You came into my world with love so softly love.

LOVE IS WHERE YOU ARE

Today's the day
People officially say
"I love you dear"
But you're not here.

How many times
And how many lines
Did we write each other
Professing our love to one another?

This year is no exception,
I have no misconseptions.
Even though we're not together
My heart's with you forever.

We've been apart so long
And still we hear our song.
Like the stars in the sky
Some feelings never die.

You tell me that you love me
And I'm your destiny.
Well ... all I know
Is that I still want you so.

It's Valentine's day today!
So once again I'll say-
No matter who... no matter how far,
No matter what... Darlin'
My Love is Where You Are

SHOPPING TO WOMAN AS SEX TO MAN

Shopping on women’s minds as much as sex on men’s



London: A fascinating survey has revealed that most of the young women think about shopping nearly as often as men think about sex.
A survey involving 778 women aged 19 to 45 showed that 74% of them think about shopping every minute.
Previous studies have claimed to support the widely-held belief that young men think about sex every 52 seconds, while the subject crosses some women’s minds only once a day.
Assuming eight hours of sleep a night means shopping trips consume womens’ thoughts an astonishing 960 times a day and 6,720 times a week.
In the latest survey by a fashion magazine in Britain, two out of five women described themselves as shoe and bag “addicts”, while the thoughts of more than one in ten focused on accessories or make-up.
On average, those surveyed spent at least 30% of their annual income on clothes. Almost 50% respondents said that they did not wear everything in their wardrobe. Even the threat of a credit crunch will not stand in the way of a shopping spree, with 62% saying they will put the damage on their credit card.



Nearly a quarter said they would think nothing of spending £200 or more on an item they particularly wanted.
“People think about things which bring them pleasurable feelings. The pleasure is usually in the anticipating and planning,” psychologist Jane Prince of the University of Glamorgan was quoted as saying by the Mail online of Britain. “But so many women displaying this level of preoccupation, thinking about something once a minute, would indicate widespread addictive behaviour,” she stressed.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the poll for men was that half of women surveyed said they preferred shopping to spending time with their partner, and nearly as many acknowledged that they kept their shopping escapades secret from their partner to hide their level of spending. AGENCIES

DO YOU LOVE HIM

Do you really love him? Really? How do you know? And how many loves are we capable of even as we seek that one true love which spans a lifetime?


DO you really love him? Faced with this question, anybody is bound to dither. What is “love”? And, what is “really love?” How do you know whether you really love someone as opposed to just being fond of him or her? And, can you possibly really love more than one person at a time in a romantic and sexual manner?
Try it. Ask yourself if you really love your husband, wife or lover. If you are a mature, reasonably intelligent and honest person, you are sure to start worrying about the true definition of love. Unending discussions about the pros and cons apart, what Reality TV has managed to do is successfully stir up the cauldron of human emotions, helping us question rather than just accept or hide them; shown us that our trespasses don’t make us freaks; there are many more like us, and last but not least, revealed to us the multiple dimensions of the human personality.
When TV actor Rupa Ganguly was asked on the last episode of Sach Ka Saamna if she really loved her younger boyfriend, she replied in the affirmative. The polygraph test however caught her out, successfully preventing her from carrying the 25-lakh booty home. A visibly disappointed Rupa said, “At 42 you are not as sure of the definition of love as you are at say 25. How do you define love? I would say I love Dibyendu, but the polygraph test obviously thinks otherwise!”
And Rupa very rightly raised the question, what then is love? According to her definition of it, she loves Dibyendu, but is there another more valid definition that is followed by the polygraph machine? Does her definition differ from that of her mother’s, her sister’s, her friend’s or the rest of the world’s? And, if that is so, is that relevant? Isn’t it enough that she knows she loves her boyfriend?
And, what happens if a man and a woman who fancy themselves in love with each other, realise that they are unable to relate to each other’s definition of love? When Cordelia’s professed love for her father, King Lear, falls short of his expectations, she loses her share of the kingdom, yet that doesn’t mean she loves him any less than her silvertongued sisters, Regan and Goneril! In romantic love too, no two individuals can profess to love each other in exactly the same manner and to the same depth. Whose definition must then be followed?
The safest bet of course would be to follow your own criteria, your own definition of what love means to you. It’s how you connect to your loved one that matters more than any definitions of how you should connect! As for how do you know if you are really in love, there are as many suggestions as there are people in love. You are in love when you would rather not live life without the other person; when he or she is the first that springs to mind in happiness or grief; when the other person is a constant companion even in absentia, and when sometimes your loved one’s happiness takes precedence over yours…
Such a loving may or may not last a lifetime, but whatever the span, it soaks up your entire being. Which is why it is difficult to understand when people say they can be in love with more than one person at a time! Going back to the show, Rupa admitted in an answer to a previous question that she still loved her exhusband. The polygraph test gave its blessing for that admission. Let’s forget the debate on whether the polygraph test is the biggest liar around and focus on Rupa, who actually admitted to loving two men at the same time — her ex and her present lover.
This polyamorous (having more than one romantic or sexual relationship) admission gives rise to the debate on whether we can love two or more people at the same time? The situation called for a quick dipstick test and I asked around. Yes, came the response. Some men and women said it is possible to love more than one person at a time. Said Rema, 34, “You can love different people for different qualities and in different ways.” Kartik, 43, added, “There are different phases to loving. At one stage you may love one kind of a person, while at another stage you may be attracted to a different person. That doesn’t mean you have to necessarily stop loving the earlier person. You could be loving both of them at the same time though maybe with different intensity and in different ways.”
Dr Helen Fisher in Why We Love talks about our three mating drives — romantic love, lust and attachment. The brain circuits behind these, she says, do not always work in tandem and each of these could be focused on different people at the same time. And so, Dr Fisher concludes that human beings are “neurologically able to love more than one person at a time.”
If we believe that there is no one kind of loving, but different kinds, we have to accept that we may fall for different kinds of people simultaneously. But I would say that those who do, couldn’t be really intense lovers. For the most intense ones, the world begins and ends with the object of their affection. The extremely focused attention, obsession and goal directed behaviour is exactly what romantic love is all about. For as long as it lasts of course…

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer: Risk factors
Early symptoms vague


The sad news of the death of Steve Jobs has brought pancreatic cancer into the headlines.
The Apple co-founder underwent surgery in 2004 for an islet cell neuroendocrine tumour,
a rare and less aggressive type of pancreatic cancer.
This - and excellent medical care - is probably why he lived so long with the disease.
Each year, more than 7,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,
and around 6,500 die of it. Of the most common cancers, it has the worst survival rate.

Just three per cent of patients live for five years or more after being diagnosed with the disease,
a figure which has remained static over the last 40 years.
UK pancreatic cancer survival figures also lag behind other European countries, as well as the US,
Canada and Australia, according to a recent report by charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.
In countries such as Canada and Australia, reported survival rates are double those of the UK.

Part of the reason is that the disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose in the early stages.
Some of the most common early symptoms - stomach pain, nausea, jaundice, weight loss,
fever - can be caused by several other conditions.

However, the Study for Survival report, based on the experiences of nearly 1,000 patients,
found that more than 50 per cent of pancreatic cancer patients experience symptoms
up to a year before being diagnosed,
with nearly a third of all patients making five or more visits to the doctor.
By the time they are diagnosed, the disease is often in its advanced stages,
which can limit treatment options.

Risk factors
Age
Pancreatic cancer is more common in older people.
Eight out of ten people who develop the disease are aged over 60.

Smoking
Smoking increases your risk of a number of lethal diseases, including pancreatic cancer.
Up to one in five pancreatic cancers may be linked to smoking cigarettes,
cigars or chewing tobacco.

Blood group
People with the blood groups A, A/B or B are more likely to develop the disease than people
with blood group O.

Medical conditions
Diabetes may be linked to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Chronic pancreatitis has been shown to raise the risk of developing the disease.

Hereditary
Around one in ten cases of pancreatic cancer are thought to be caused by inherited genes
which predispose them to developing the disease.
People who are already at risk of a number of familial cancer syndromes linked to faulty genes are
at a greater risk of pancreatic cancer. These include breast cancer associated with the BRCA1
and BRCA2 genes, familial atypical mole melanoma, hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer,
familial adenomatous polyposis,
and Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

Prevention
A healthy lifestyle can help to reduce your risk of cancer, including pancreatic cancer.
Limit saturated fat and sugar, eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day,
try to maintain a healthy weight and keep physically active.
There is some evidence to suggest that lycopene (found in tomatoes)
and vitamin C may help protect against pancreatic cancer.

true love

TRUE LOVE
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny!

True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And conquers all fear.

True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.

Bryan L. Harvey

Single, but not lonely

Single, but not lonely


Sailing solo: Tanuja Chandra
Why is there such a mortal fear of being single? It’s not half as bad as it’s made out to be, declares Tanuja Chandra. Tanuja Chandra is a screenwriter and director

WHEN I was in my late twenties, my parents believed they could find a person for me to marry. And despite my advice to them to abandon this line of thought, because a ‘found’ boy, was not the path to marriage I could possibly tread, they would insist on meeting single, eligible men and their families. These meetings always ended with my parents politely excusing themselves from said company even before tea had been served. I don’t remember all the groom stories they told me, but yes, there was one in which a mother said she had no objections to a ‘career bahu’ as long as I cooked the family’s lunch before leaving for work; and there was another where the boy was going through an unusual dietary phase; he was a Phalaahari, who had consumed only fruit for the past several months; and there was yet another one, where, upon phoning the number given to my parents by a helpful relative, they found out the guy was already married; to cut a short story shorter — arranged marriage didn’t work out for me. And this, I had predicted.


Single, but not lonely


Now, the thing about love, at least the kind I understand, is this: it simply cannot be searched for, no matter how diligently the strategy and plan are chalked out. It has to happen on its own — infrequently, unpredictably and illogically. Admittedly, many have found a kind of love through some sort of arranged meeting; but I also know of several women, who have been fiercely scouring the social landscape for that elusive, wonderful man they will marry, for five, 10 years and it hasn’t yielded just results. Either the guy just stops calling after three meetings or these women find the men less than sensitive, smelly or just not exciting enough. All this only corroborates my thesis: if love has to happen, it will. Or else it won’t.

Why is there such mortal fear of being single? It’s not half as bad as it’s made out to be. The single person has many satisfying re l a t i o n - s h i p s .

One’s relationship w i t h work is nothing if not pass i o n at e, s t e a d f a s t , and intimate. Work is the one thing in life that gives you back what you give it. It’s pulsating and alive, and although filled with huge highs and lows, never does it leave you empty and undone. A project hardly ever fills you with abiding sorrow, even when it isn’t a success. You put your heart into it, and in turn, it will always remain yours.

Nonetheless, what can be tiring, even in this elemental relationship is that one has to continuously sell one’s wares. In the entertainment business, you need to endlessly pitch your ideas and throw yourself into full-bodied marketing to convince sceptics of your talent. That’s a considerable pressure and often debilitating to the spirit. But for those low times, there are friends! Childhood companions, girlfriends! Funny, patient, generous, friends are extended family. With them you are free to be yourself. Free to fight, free to gossip, free to embrace and free to fail. It’s so liberating, it’s as if, with all your awkwardness and ineptness, you fall back into a soft bed to allow yourself to stare at nothing. Of such fun experiences, the world is filled to the brim! There are so many places to travel to, so many different foods to be had! There are books to r e a d , movies to see, websites to be i m m e r s e d into. The occasional hairspa to be enjoyed and the great pair of Italian shoes to be bought! There are nieces and nephews to be adored, and parents to laugh with. Stories to hear and stories to tell.

Oh single world, whatever else, thou art certainly not one-dimensional!

So, single though I am, I hardly am bored, and have never felt sorry for myself. Therein lies the secret. If romance walks through the door someday, it will be welcomed. Not because I’ll be waiting, sad and lonely, ready to fling myself at Cupid’s feet, in tearful gratitude. But because, all loves are welcome. All loves are life. And not all lives have to walk down the regular road to be considered full.

Ageless, timeless, limitless love!

Ageless, timeless, limitless love!



Whether you’re 80 or 18, everyone just needs to be loved! It is discovered that notions of love are expanding and how falling in love has lost its retirement age!

We’re living in a world where the age span of love is rising. From teenagers who are being told, ‘How to be a Perfect Kisser’, to middle-aged women who figure out ‘10 Ways to Please your Man in Bed’ from magazines, and old couples who are advised on ‘20 Ways to Better Loving’ – can anyone ignore love at any age? Why, even author Gabriel Garcia Marquez said, “I would prove to men how wrong they are to think that they stop falling in love as they get older, since they actually start getting older as soon as they stop falling in love.”
Says relationship guru, Dr Rohit Juneja, “We’re expanding our notions of love and are finding new expressions to show it; this makes us energetic and lively. The increasing divorce rate, in a way is healthy, because that shows that people don’t want to be in loveless relationships.” Finally, the pursuit of love is making us get out of our comfort zone.

Young love


Spring is in the air; There’s magic everywhere; When you’re young and in love — The Marvellettes, American band

DESIRE TO LOVE I When you’re 14, you don’t need a reason to be in love. The love gurus have marketed love in every space of a youngster’s life. At 14, for Vandana Sareen, boys are a fascinating subject. “We can’t stop talking about guys. I’m in love with a boy in my class. At my age, the pressure to fall in love is intense. I don’t know the difference between attraction and love yet. So, I’ll just experiment.”
For youngsters in the love market, it’s about experimentation and glamour. Says psychologist Anu Goel, “Love in the teens is dreamy.” There’s an openness in the post I-pill generation. Explains marriage counsellor, Dr Kamal Khurana, “It’s more fairy-tale and fantasy-like, where they think that everything is possible.”
MAINTENANCE OF LOVE I “There’s hardly any maintenance required; love comes easy, and also goes easy,” says psychologist Goel. “Women are more upfront in expressing love, which is all about deep intimacy, sexual longing and exploration fuelled by a consumer mentality,” says Radhika Chopra, a sociologist at Delhi University. When you are young, and you fall in love, it’s an illusion. For singer Hard Kaur, “Love is understanding... it’s about making pancakes at three in the morning!” Why, even Rakhi Sawant is trying to look for love on India’s national television. “I feel the need to find love and share my life with someone.”

Middle-aged love


Love gets me every time my heart changed my mind – Shania Twain, singer


DESIRE TO LOVE I Even Google doesn’t have a clear description of love for a middle-aged person! You’re supposed to be looking after your babies and making a success of your career or having great sex outside marriage! This is the most vulnerable group; ‘settled’ couples feel ‘unsettled’, and divorce isn’t uncommon, as most feel there’s still time to find love. Says relationship expert Dr Rohit Juneja, “These are people living lives in quiet desperation. They want to break free. So, they start by having affairs. Monogamy is the monopoly of one individual, which leads to monotony.”
Says author Kishwar Desai, who met Meghnad Desai when she was 47. “Love happened to me. We share everything and have a deep sense of bonding!” Dr Avdesh Sharma says, “You cannot imagine how unhappy mid-lifers are with their marriages. When they meet attractive people, the chemistry is lethal. There’s a craving for deep emotional intimacy in this group.” So, what do men and women look for in love at this age? Says Anu Chadha, 52, accessory exporter, “I’m looking for love that is serene not heady and hip-hop.” Sanjeev Khatri, VP, Queen’s International Travels, believes, “Being in love makes you vivacious. For men, it’s to be with someone who is emotionally and sexually attractive.”
MAINTENANCE OF LOVE I Growing up doesn’t cool off desire, rather, it fires it up. “Love is about intimacy, appreciation and communication. Remove your conflicts,” advises Dr Juneja. Meera Bhardwaj, a recently-married Delhi University lecturer at 42 feels, “Keeping love alive is about indulging in small romantic gestures, giving compliments and showing gratitude.”

Old love


I wanna make you smile/ Whenever you’re sad/ Carry you around/ When your arthritis is bad/ All I wanna do is/ Grow old with you – Adam Sandler, actor

DESIRE TO LOVE I Don’t just blame Viagra; the desire to find love is intense at 62 for Col Raj Khanna. He says, “I lost my wife some years ago and was looking for friendship. So, when I found love for the second time, it was more about sharing.” Dr Avdesh Sharma, psychiatrist, opines, “I’ve had men come to me, who have spouses who don’t want sex. There are a lot of mismatched couples looking for emotional fulfillment. The solution is to find newness in your daily routine.”
MAINTENANCE OF LOVE I At 77, Mehtab Singh’s definition of love is, “Loving stays young; the body grows old. Love can give you a glow even in your 70s.” Says Dr Kamal Khurana, “Many people face the empty nest syndrome, so love in this stage has to be supportive.” The need for physical intimacy is reflected in the attitude of 60-plus men in Joggers’ Park, where conversations revolve around sex! Says Dr Raj Bhrambhat, sexologist, “There’s new hope with Viagra. Men want sexual gratification even after 70. There’s no age for love and sex. It can happen anytime.”

10 UNSOLVED PROBLEMS

10 Unsolved Mysteries Of The World





Placebo Effect

The placebo effect is when a persontakes something they believe is medicine for an ailment they are suffering(which is not really a medicine), and they get better. A placebo is an inert substance, and when taken (with the advice from others that it will cure them)makes
the person get better, simply because they were expecting or believed that it would work. Something similar, called the nocebo effect, is when aperson takes fake drugs and thinks they are experiencing problems that would have been caused by the real drugs. They have been known to reduce pain as well. Why they occur is mysterious and they are only one of the many complicated things related to the body-brain connection. In fact, our own bodies hold many unsolved mysteries.





Pan spermia

How didlife on earth appear? Science suggests that life started when the planetwas favourable for habitation. Yet did microscopic organisms just pop out ofnowhere? One hypothesis is panspermia, whichsuggests that €˜seeds of life€™ exist everywhere
around the universe, andthat life on earth started when these €˜seeds€™ came here, probably by ameteor. It also suggests that these
seeds are taken to other habitableplaces in the universe. Something similar to this is exo-genesis. It suggeststhat life was brought to
earth those billions of years ago, however it doesnot say that life is also taken to other habitable places. Somepeople
believe aliens brought life to our planet, as suggested by thetheories of Erich Von Daniken. Although some are sceptical as to how
lifecould exist in space and get carried to other planets, there is substantialevidence that certain life forms, like spores and
certain types of bacteria can actually exist in space, perhaps in a dormant state.





Mass extinctions

From the death of the dinosaurs, to the disappearance of the creatures inthe Permian Era, mass extinctions are occurring even now.

Sometimes, the cause is clear. We are destroying the biosphere and the atmosphere, and scientists predict that in the next 100 years, 50% of all living species will become extinct. But sometimes, the realreason is unclear. It may have been due to competition from other species,
dramatic climate changes, or the impacts from an asteroid/meteor (the last one being quite a popular one). Yet some questions remain unanswered. Why was it that some species died out, and others survived,some to this day (famous example: the coelacanth).

During the extinction of the dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles were around, but they survived, even to this day, while the dinosaurs, the pterosaurs, the marine reptiles and others died out. While some people believe that those species were unable to cope with the (possibly) new surroundings, others are not convinced. To this day,they are a mystery, and without a time machine, we may never know. Other popular theories include:- flood basalt events,smaller asteroid showers, global warming/cooling, sea level drops.





Zombies in Haiti

Haitan vodou, part of their religious practices, has long been considered to be evil. And the base of this suspicionis that the vodou is used to create zombies.

Not zombies as in Hollywood zombies. Not animated brain ****ing zombies. Zombies like, sub-conscious humanswho do everything they are told. Wade Davis, a Canadian ethno-biologist,uncovered a lot of info on this. Apparently, it originated in Africa, and two drugs (or poisons) are inserted into the victim€™s bloodstream.

One creates a death like trance, and one makes the victim seem like they have no brain oftheir own, thus rendering them able to do whatever they are told. 3 important facts Davis found was:- zombification is not random, it is not common, and it is used as a kind of severe punishment, most likely to those that have brokenthe sacred vodou laws.




Intuition

Ever learned something without really understanding how you know it? That€™s intuition. Sometimes called a sixth sense or gut feelings, intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without a clear source or without reasoning it. Some people claim that they get a feeling that someone is watching them, and they look around andfind that somebody is, or was, watching them. Or a police officer may look at some suspects for a crime and somehow know which one is guilty, and later discover they were right. Though some people say that these things are all coincidences, others believe that the human brain has a special ability to get knowledge around them without conscious realization. It is another mystery of the human mind.




Year 2012

What makes this year so special? The fact that the Olympics are taking place in London? No. The ancient Maya civilization,from Central America, had a special calendar that was mind-blowingly accurate. And it predicted that the end of the human life cycle was on December 21st, 2012, the winter solstice. The Mayans were also good at math and astrology(they accurately predicted an eclipse that occurred hundred of years later). So people are guessing that they were right about the end of the world thing, too. Something else that has gotten scientists curious is that there are some major astronomical things happening in2012.

Apart from the occasional eclipse and comet, the entire solar system is supposed to pass through the center of our galaxy, something that happens only once every 26,000 years. And, there€™s a risk of our planet€™s poles switching.

Sounds crazy, but scientists say this has already happened. Coincidence?I think not





Life on Extra Solar Planets

Exoplanets, short for extra-solar planets, are planets beyond the solar system. There are 277 recorded exoplanets to date.

However, there is no confirmation that there is life on any of them,or in the universe, for that matter. However, it is still a mystery.

This is different from UFOs as UFO are unidentified flying objects, meaning something unidentified that has been seen on earth.

Some likely candidates for supporting life are Gliese 581 d and HD 189733 b, the latter supposedly containing water vapour and organic matter.

There are also questions as to whether there are moons orbiting these planets. Some people believe that there may even be life in our solar system that we don€™t know of. Some moons,like Neptune€™s Triton or Saturn€™s Europa, may possible have, or had, life, and there is substantial evidence that water once flowed through Mars. Still, no one knows.





Nazca Lines

Etched into the earth on the Nazca Plains in Peru are giant symbols drawn perfectly straight. Some are hundreds of metres long. They look as if they were drawn by some giant hand two thousand years ago. And the strange thing is, they can only be seen from the air.
So how did the ancient Nazcans draw them? Researchers say they could have created hot air balloon or kites to fly and view their work.

Indeed, an experiment was carried out and it proved that the Nazcans could have made a working balloon. The symbols themselves are of animals and plants. Yet some are long strips of land without any direct meaning. A writer named Erich Von Daniken believed that these were landing strips for alien spacecraft, and that aliens could have drawn them. They may also be for contacting these aliens.Maria Reiche, an astronomer, says that these lines may be used as a calendar,or to keep track of the stars and planets. There is a monkey drawing that has a coiled tail that looks similar to the orbital lines of our solar system. There are even more obscure theories that suggest that there were giant people2,000 years ago. Yet, they are still a mystery.



Megalithic structures

A megalithic structure is some thing big made of rock. It could be a statue, or just some rocks strewn around in a pattern. The truly mysterious thing about the ancients is, how were they able to create such enormous things? They did not have the technology needed to efficiently make them. Stonehenge is a good example. A bigger one is the Great Pyramid in Giza, or the pyramids themselves. Sometimes, even their purpose is unclear (Stonehenge), while other times, the structures in question are mysterious and seemingly supernatural (the pyramids). A megalith (I know, sounds like something from Di-Gata Defenders), a giant rock, is used most of the time, especially in the case of Stonehenge and the Carnac stones. Still,there are a few megalithic structures that are not mysterious (like Great Zimbabwe), but mostly it seems impossible that the ancients made these things themselves. Now, many would like to think aliens helped them. Yet even scientists say queerer things.They suggest that there may have been a lost ancient civilization that was extremely advanced, and they may have given later civilizations the knowledge to build such things. Yet there is no substantial evidence of either. Other examples: Easter Island Heads, Pyramid of the Sun (in Mesoamerica), other pyramids in central and south America, Colossus of Rhodes.



Creation of the Universe

The universe is vast and unknown. It holds many mysteries. And possibly the biggest mystery is how the universe was created.

Scientists have suggested that there was a massive explosion billions of years ago called The Big Bang. That theory is now generally accepted, and scientists are looking for trails of energy left behind from the colossal explosion that created a trillion stars. Yet there is no absolute proof. But the creation of the universe is something too big to happen so simply.

Religious folks will say God/Allah/Vishnu created the universe. But scientists will say that there was a Big Bang, and that there is energy from the bang moving through the universe, and they are trying to locate the epicentre. So, the debate continues. Religion vs. Science is probably the biggest conflict in the world. But what is religion? There are so many different types.
And the difference between the Christian religion and Greek mythology? No one believes in Greek mythology anymore. But what is science? And math? Things created by man. So before saying that man created God and science proves it, people should realize man created science as well.And maybe, the universe is just something made up in our minds.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

London: Love at first sight? Only if you have got 8.2 secs’ appeal, say researchers.
A new study has found that the time needed for a man to fall in love at first sight is 8.2 seconds — in fact, the longer a man’s gaze rests on a woman when they meet for the first time, the more interested he is.
And, if it lasts just four seconds, he may not be all that impressed. But if can break the 8.2 second barrier, he could already be in love, it has found.
However, the same is not true for women. They let their eyes linger on men for the same length of time whether they find them attractive or not, leading British newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
According to the researchers, men use eye contact to seek out fit and fertile mates but women are more wary of attracting unwanted attention because of the risks of unwanted pregnancy and single parenthood.
In their study, the researchers used hidden cameras to secretly track the eye movements of 115 students as they spoke to actors and actresses. They were then asked to rate their conversation partner’s attractiveness. The men looked into the eyes of actresses they considered beautiful for an average of 8.2 seconds, but that dropped to 4.5 seconds when gazing at those they rated less attractive, the study found.
The female students, however, were looking at the actors for the same length of time, found the study published in the latest edition of the Archives of Sexual Behaviour journal.
In an unrelated study, researchers have found that romantic love can last a lifetime and lead to happier, healthier relationships.
“Many believe that romantic love is the same as passionate love,” said lead researcher Bianca Acevedo, of University of California, Santa Barbara. “It isn’t. Romantic love has the intensity, engagement and sexual chemistry that passionate love has, minus the obsessive component,” Acevedo added.
Researchers reviewed 25 studies with 6,070 individuals in shortand long-term relationships to find out whether romantic love is associated with more satisfaction.
The researchers found that those who reported greater romantic love were more satisfied in both the short- and long-term relationships. AGENCIES

DID I MARRY THE MR. RIGHT

During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question. She said, " How do I know if I married the right person ?"

I noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so I said, " It Depends. Is that your husband?"

In all seriousness, she answered " How do you know?"

Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's Weighing on your mind.

Here's the answer.

EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with Your spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked Their idiosyncrasies.

Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a Completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love... Because it's happening TO YOU.

People in love sometimes say, " I was swept of my feet." Think about the Imagery of that expression. It implies that you were just standing There; doing nothing, and then something came along and happened TOYOU.

Falling in love is easy. It's a passive and spontaneous experience.

But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria of love fades. It's the Natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls Become a bother ( if they come at all), touch is not always welcome ( when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts.

The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you Think about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, " Did I marry The right person?" And asyou and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of The love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else.

This is when marriages break down. People blame their spouse for their Unhappiness and look outside their marriage for fulfillment.

Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is The most obvious. But sometimes people turn to work, church, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances.

But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies within it.

I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You Could.

And TEMPORARILY you'dfeel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this):

THE KEY TO SUCCEEDINGIN MARRIAGE IS NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSONYOU FOUND.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen to you. You can't" find " LASTING love. You have to "make" it day in and day out. That's why we have the _expression " the labor of love."

Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it Takes WISDOM. You have to know WHATTO DO to make your marriage work.

Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific Things you can do ( with or without your spouse ) to succeed with your marriage.

Just as there are physical laws of the universe ( such as gravity),

There are also laws for relationships. Just as the right diet and exercise Program makes you physically stronger, certain habits in your Relationship WILL make your marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If you know and apply the laws, the results are predictable. .. You can " make " love.

Love in marriage isindeed a " decision"... Not just a feeling.