Natures remedy

Plagued by dull skin and dark spots blossoming across your face? Welcome to the club. Most women (and men) experience hyper-pigmentation issues in Singapore, thanks to our intense, year-round equatorial sunshine. Hyper-pigmentation is caused by an over production of melanin, the pigment in our skin that is produced by melanocytes deep in the skin’s dermis layer. Melanin is produced in part to protect our skin from sunburn, but an overdrive in melanin production results in uneven skin tone and the unsightly dark spots that are common on the highest points of the face, such as the cheeks and nose. Concentrated patches of melanin can form underneath the skin’s surface for years before surfacing as dark spots. Once visible, it is not easy to eradicate except with the help of aesthetic treatments such as lasers and Intense Pulsed Light therapy, which is absorbed by melanin, triggering the gradual fragmentation of localised hyper-pigmentation. However, consistent use of brightening … [Read more...] about Beauty Fixes: Tackle dark spots and uneven complexion in just four weeks

LOS ANGELES: Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why. She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a signature of exposure to asbestos. And she knew it afflicted mostly men who inhaled asbestos dust in mines and industries such as shipbuilding that used the carcinogen before its risks were understood. Coker, 52 years old, had raised two daughters and was running a massage school in Lumberton, a small town in eastern Texas. How had she been exposed to asbestos? “She wanted answers,” her daughter Cady Evans said. Fighting for every breath and in crippling pain, Coker hired Herschel Hobson, a personal-injury lawyer. He homed in on a suspect: the Johnson’s Baby Powder that Coker had used on her infant children and sprinkled on herself all her life. Hobson knew that talc and asbestos often occurred together in the earth, and that mined talc could be … [Read more...] about Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its baby powder

You've probably eaten your share of charcoal-infused croissants, burgers, ice cream and waffles over the years. These black foods were impossible to miss back when almost every hipster cafe, restaurant, ice cream outlet and even fast food chain had a charcoal-dyed food or beverage on the menu - some of which you can still find today. For instance, Treasures By Imperial Treasure still does a charcoal liu sha bao for dim sum - a dark grey bao with gold-painted stripes filled with salted egg yolk lava. The Pipe District's menu has a dark horse too - charcoal fish and chips made with salmon or dory in a deep-fried, pitch-black batter. For dessert, there is the charcoal vanilla soft-serve swirl from The Cold Pantry. Even drinks have turned to the dark side. HIC Juice, which delivers cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juice concoctions, has a coconut water and charcoal drink called cococharcoal. At some cafes, you can order a charcoal latte or charcoal lemonade without getting a … [Read more...] about Charcoal foods are all the rage – but are they bad for you?

The weekend’s over and another hectic week at work beckons. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, getting the occasional migraine, or simply feeling tired and skittish in the office, that’s stress getting to you. And you’re not alone – a recent study has revealed 60 per cent of employees in Singapore admitted to having above average or high levels of stress. So, how does one cope with it? Different people take to different things: Like going to the gym, practising meditation or – our favourite – getting a massage. But there’s actually a whole range of ways to relieve different levels of stress – some of which you could do easily and others which you would need to fork out a bit more. Here’s a list of ways to relieve stress according to budget. 1. TAKE DEEP BREATHS: FREE Breathing properly isn’t just for yoga practitioners. In fact, it’s the easiest way to calm down – and all you need is 10 minutes and quiet place for these two basic exercises. The easiest one … [Read more...] about Free kiss or a S$6,900 spa bath? How to beat stress according to your budget

For the vast majority of patients with debilitating knee pain, joint replacement surgery is considered an “elective” procedure. While it’s true that one’s life doesn’t depend on it, what about quality of life? Many people hobbling about on painful knees would hardly regard the surgery as optional. Consider, for example, two people I know: A 56-year-old man passionate about tennis, who can no longer run for a bus, let alone on the court; and a 67-year-old otherwise healthy woman with bone-on-bone arthritis, who can’t walk without a cane or stand for more than a few minutes. They have reason to think it may be time to replace their worn-out knees with artificial ones, an operation that is now among the most frequently performed costly medical procedures in the United States. But some leading medical economists are asking whether this surgery is being done too often or too soon on patients who have not adequately explored less invasive approaches to relieve their pain and improve … [Read more...] about Is it time to rethink the need for invasive knee replacement surgery?

INDIA: Some have hailed it as a step towards freedom from discrimination, humiliation and oppression. Certainly, India’s Supreme Court ruling on Section 377 (S377) of the Penal Code has given a new lease of life to millions who had been living under the weight of criminality and in the shadow of fear. READ: India's Supreme Court ends colonial-era ban on gay sex Not only was there an overwhelming response from gay rights activists and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, there was also support from the main political parties, like the opposition Congress party. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party did not oppose the judgment, while the Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) even supported the ruling, saying that gay sex was not a crime but a moral issue. While S377, which criminalises sexual activities "against the order of nature", remains in force in relation to sex with minors and bestiality, the court ruled last month that its … [Read more...] about How did conservative India come to repeal S377’s ban on consensual gay sex?