Archive for the "Anthropology" Category

Two-thirds of American adults are overweight—more of them women than men—yet fewer than one-quarter are dieting. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control found that women eat over 300 more calories a day than they did in 1971. Fewer than one-third of Americans get regular exercise.

Most Americans are fat and happy. Of course everyone would love to cut their cancer risk by one-third—unless it means skipping that extra scoop of ice cream, or jogging three times a week. Reducing cancer risk isn’t that important. Until you get it.

As Associated Press reporter Maria Cheng noted, there is a reluctance on the part of many doctors to make too much of this study: “Any discussion of weight and breast cancer is considered sensitive because some may misconstrue that as the medical establishment blaming women for their disease.”

No one should be “blamed” for getting a disease, but nor is it a good idea to simply ignore the person’s lifestyle choices that greatly increase their chances of getting that disease. If a person chooses an unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, etc.), doctors should not be shy about warning them the risks they are assuming.
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Hannah Burge

Face value: Sarah Burge, who has had more than 150 cosmetic procedures, administers Botox to her sixteen-year-old daughter, Hannah

Hannah, now 16, had her first dose while on a family holiday in Marbella, Spain, last May, with her mother’s consent. Since then the schoolgirl has had two more Botox injections at home with Miss Burge, 49, who is a trained aesthetic practitioner.

She uses the same Botox on her daughter that she uses on herself. The only concession she makes for Hannah’s age is to give her half the usual dosage given to adults.

Hannah believes the toxin – which she calls “B” – will stop her developing wrinkles in the future.

She said: ‘I wanted to have Botox for two reasons: It prevents wrinkles and everyone at my school was talking about having B. I had a couple of lines on my forehead and around my mouth, which I was unhappy about. Appearance is important to me and I don’t want to look haggard and ugly by the time I’m 25. Some of my friends told me that the earlier you start to have B, the fewer wrinkles you’ll have as an adult.’

Hannah Burge

Sarah Burge

Hannah, of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, has heard of girls having Botox at 16 but believes she is the youngest to start. She now wants her mother to give her lip fillers for a fuller pout.

She said: ‘I’ve met plenty of girls my age who are having these procedures behind their parents’ backs, which I think is pretty dangerous. With (my mother’s) help, I won’t get that frozen-face look when I’m older and will never have a line or wrinkle on my face.’

Her mother, who has been married three times, regularly uses Botox herself, and has had her nose made smaller, her cheekbones made bigger, her breasts lifted, and the fat sucked from her face among other procedures.

She said: ‘I was thrilled Hannah was open and honest with me about having Botox’

Botox is the trade name for botulinum toxin, a bacteria which causes muscle paralysis lasting for up to four months.

Claude Knights, director of Kidscape, said: ‘To be using Botox at such a young age is of concern.

‘She is terribly young, this is encouraging her to value herself purely on how she looks, she is not getting a chance to develop her character.’

Fazel Fatah, president-elect of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said that Botox should be administered only by a professional in sterile conditions.

He said: ‘Excessive Botox can cause facial weakness or paralysis, and double vision, if injected incorrectly near the eye area.’
dailymail.co.uk

Prince's Palace Found in Volcanic Crater

The palace was found at the site where, according to legend, Romulus and Remus were educated.

The remains of what might have been the residence of the Etruscan prince Sextus Tarquinius, son of the last legendary king of Rome Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), have been found on the slopes of an extinct volcanic crater about 12 miles from Rome, Italian archaeologists have announced.

The palace was discovered on the site of the ancient acropolis of Gabii, where, according to legend, Rome’s mythical founders, Romulus and Remus, were educated. The building dates to the sixth century B.C and boasts the highest intact walls from the period ever found in Italy, standing at around 6.56 feet high.

“The dig has shown that the richly decorated monumental roof was dismantled, and the building filled with rubble. This has been a blessing, since it has allowed the palace to remain virtually intact,” archaeologist Marco Fabbri of Rome’s Tor Vergata University, told Discovery News.

Fabbri and colleagues from Rome’s Archaeological Superintendency believe that the residence was furiously demolished, probably during the Roman revolt in 510 B.C. that ultimately led to the foundation of the Roman Republic.
Read the rest of the article at Discovery News.