Too much physical activity may lead to Arthritis

According to research in the United States, middle-aged men and women who engage in high levels of physical activity may be unknowingly causing damage to their knees and increasing their risk for osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness. The US study showed MRI evidence of knee abnormalities, including cartilage damage and ligament lesions, in active adults with no pain or other symptoms.

“Our data suggest that people with higher physical activity levels may be at greater risk for developing knee abnormalities and, thus, at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis,” said Dr Christoph Stehling, research fellow in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and radiology resident in the Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Muenster, Germany.

The UCSF study involved 236 asymptomatic participants who had not reported previous knee pain and were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health Osteoarthritis Initiative. Study participants included 136 women and 100 men, aged 45 to 55, within a healthy weight range. Read more

Healthier outlook for expectant mothers

Researchers in Sydney have made a scientific breakthrough with preeclampsia, a serious medical condition that effects up to 10% of expectant mothers in Australia. The discovery reinforces the theory that preeclampsia might involve the rejection of the fetus by its mother’s immune system.

Published today in the Journal of Immunology, the paper explains for the first time that a small population of immune cells called Regulatory T-cells might play an important role in preventing rejection during normal pregnancy.

Preeclampsia is a leading cause of complications and even death amongst pregnant women in Australia. It is the country’s most common serious medical disorder in pregnancy, affecting 5-10% of expectant mothers. Yet the causes of this illness remain a mystery and apart from delivering the baby, there is no known cure. Read more

Book Review: Masterchef – The Cookbook

BREAKING NEWS: MasterChef Australia: The Cookbook Volume 1 is the best-selling book in Australia after its first full week on sale, making it the fastest selling illustrated cookbook opening week ever recorded on Nielsen BookScan  (stats released by Random House Australia).

Yes, I was thoroughly addicted, glued to the television screen with my novice-chef glass of wine and my cooking apron knotted firmly against my spine in expectation. Yes, ancient jars of herbs and spices began tumbling out from the dim, dark recesses of my ‘cooking stuff’ cupboard soon after the series commenced. Yes, I eventually ditched the jars and went and bought fresh herbs - but even more than that… I even planted my own herbs.

I also sharpened knives. I scrubbed the great clunking wooden chopping board, hauled out from semi-retirement. I dragged gadgets out from the back of the utensil drawer that had been wedged against the backboard for all eternity. I became inspired, driven and insatiably lustful to create nightly dinners of such gastronomic worth, my family grew cutlery from their extremeties and sat expectantly at the dinner table the moment a clatter emerged from the kitchen.

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Hottest 100 Female Songs of All Time

According to a national poll, the hottest female song of all time as voted by Australian Internet users, is Aretha’s Franklin’s Respect.

Creators of the Hummingbird 100 Hottest Female Songs said the national poll addresses an oversight by the Triple J Hottest 100 of all time in July this year, where not a single female artist was represented, begging the question from outraged bloggers, media and music lovers – where were all the ladies?

The Hummingbird100 poll was launched at www.hummingbird100.com in October and in seven weeks, Australians went online to cast 62,000 votes on the website, forming a fascinating list of the greatest songs by women of all time. The results of the Hummingbird 100 hottest female songs were then broadcast last weekend on the cable TV music channel, MAX. Read more

Q & A with Vanessa Stubbs of TreasureBags

When brand new entrepreneur Vanessa Stubbs scoured the stores for attractive gift bags last Christmas, she took her search online – a search that yielded a questionable range of “…tie-dyed or organza drawstring bags, library-book style bags or good ol’ paper-based bags…” Disillusioned, she dragged out the sewing machine and made her own re-usable gift bags from a Christmas-themed table cloth from the supermarket. AWO chatted with Vanessa about how her treasure of an idea could cut your Christmas wrapping costs – and cost to the environment – in half.

What’s the idea behind reusable, fabric TreasureBags? I wanted to use material bags because of three reasons. The first, and most selfish reason, was because it took me three hours the year before to wrap my presents.  I didn’t enjoy hunching over rolls of paper trying to get neat lines and pretty bows; I wanted a gift bag that I could just throw gifts into, tie a bow in it, and have it look great.

Secondly, I didn’t want to continue using rolls of paper each Christmas when I knew it was mostly made from native forest and would only end up in landfill or consuming further resources being recycled. I’m constantly after my husband for not using the recycling bin and something about deliberately wasting paper didn’t sit right with me.

Finally, I was travelling that Christmas on a plane and knew that if I’d wrapped my presents in paper they would have arrived creased and torn.  And, there’ s no way I’d have had the time to rewrap all the gifts I’d packed given I was landing on Christmas Eve!

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Dangerous children’s toys stopped at the border

Thousands of children’s toys containing dangerous levels of lead have been intercepted and seized in Melbourne as part of a joint agency operation by Australian Customs and the ACCC.

The toys were bound for weekend markets and discount stores when they were intercepted by the Customs and Border Protection Service.

In the lead up to Christmas, Australian Customs and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have been testing targeted shipments of imported toys.

More than 500 tests were conducted on 165 samples and thousands of toys have been seized. Excessive lead levels were discovered in counterfeit Ben 10 figures, camouflage tommy guns, boxing gloves and a ride-on motorcycle.

Toys with levels of migratable lead of more than 90mg/kg are prohibited under import and supply laws in Australia. Migratable lead is what children can swallow or absorb through the skin and cause illness and developmental delays.

Customs and Border Protection Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Neil Mann said 4918 toys were seized during the joint operation – all of the toys will be destroyed.

The ACCC’s deputy chairman, Peter Kell, said: “A total of 480 packages of counterfeit Ben 10 toys were seized, with each package containing some figures with lead levels up to double the legal limit. This was the importer’s first attempt to bring the Ben 10 counterfeits into Australia and they were going to the weekend market sector and discount stores.”

Mr Kell added, “The ACCC has confirmed that genuine Ben 10 toys sold through major department stores comply with the law and are safe.”

“Evidence indicates that well-known toy brands are now making sure their toys are safe, after major recalls in 2007-2008. However, since then, unsafe levels of lead in toys have been detected in Australia and overseas at the discount end of the market.”

Source: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service & ACCC

A quarter of Australians haven’t even thought about elderly parents

With an aging population and more of us living longer than 80 years, it is perhaps a bit concerning that a quarter of Australians surveyed haven’t even thought about what they will do when their parents or guardians become elderly and are unable to look after themselves.

The same survey also revealed that less than 10% said they actually thought about what they will do and have some plans in place for when the inevitable happens. It will come as a shock then, to the remaining 90% of our population, when their elderly parents require assistance, particularly in a crisis.

The survey carried out by McCrindle Research and commissioned by Sydney-based in-home care agency Dutiful Daughters, found that almost 40% of Australians Read more

Get the Look: Shapewear a big hit at American Music Awards

Shapewear as Outerwear was big on stage at this year’s American Music Awards with Fergie, J Lo and Carrie Underwood giving the look their own special twist while Lady Gaga (pictured) took the fashion she pioneered to a new level.

The style, first championed by daring fashionista Lady Gaga, is now regularly seen on starlets like Lily Allen who favours big knickers instead of pants, Rhianna who favours the bodysuit and tailored blazer and Scarlett Johanson who pairs her bodysuit with 1940s style pencil skirts.

Those who are keen to be ahead of the trend here in Australia, will be delighted to know that Dr Rey’s new range of diamond lace shapewear is now available down under. Read more

Book Review: Friendship Family Love & Laughter

If friendship, family, love and laughter aren’t consciously placed at the top of your Christmas Wish List, you may well have your head blindly implanted in the stress of the pre-Christmas rush, smothered under a freshly delivered topsoil of work, or even buried deeply in the bah humbug resentment that skirts loosely around the edges of the Festive Season.

While we’re all out and about, running maniacally, squabbling over the last of the latest Wii game, the perfect number of kg for the Christmas chook, or being unable to find a Go Go Pet hamster within a 400km radius of any shop standing on Australian soil, it’s easy to get caught up in the be-tinselled swirl.

If you, too, have allowed your credit card numbers to tumble into retail like a freshly smacked piñata, you more than anyone will understand that Christmas has become a somewhat costly, material-amassing affair. Ironic, then, that the most valuable commodities – friendship, family, love and laughter – are free. With these freebies, our Christmas, or indeed our very lives, can become calmer. More tender. More meaningful. And of course – more beautiful. How easily we forget how much beauty these simple elements can bring to our lives.

And I’ve seen just the book to prove it. Read more

Australian women do the limbo dance for breast cancer research

The makers of the Venus razor for women, gathered more than one hundred and fifty Australian women together at First Fleet Park in Circular Quay yesterday, in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest ever limbo dance, and raise funds for breast cancer research.

Originally setting out to beat the current world record of 1,150 held by Texas, the Venus Closest Limbo Line-up fell way short of the world record (well it was raining), so organisers had to be content with a new Australian record for the most number of people to dance their way under a limbo pole.

Popular TV presenter and recording artist Erika Heynatz, was hired as the official event scrutineer for the world record attempt. It was Erika’s job to make sure all participants had silky smooth legs and checking the limbo pole height when they went as low as they could go. Read more

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