A secret US cable made public by WikiLeaks shows that Pakistan Army had vetoed President Asif Ali Zardari’s proposal to send ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha to New Delhi to calm down tensions with India following the Mumbai terror attack.

The confidential document shows that the then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had called Zardari, asking him to send the ISI chief to India,to which the President readily agreed. He, however, was overruled by the Pakistani
Army led by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.

Miliband described Major General Pasha as a welcome new broom and expressed UK support for ISI reform.

Zardari said the new ISI leaders were straight forward and their roles were proscribed by the constitution, but it would take time for real conversions.

Blemishes are just the same with zits or pimples. But whatever name you call them, it is a distressing problem especially if it is persistent and recurring. It is a vicious cycle and a continuous struggle of going away and coming back.

Plus, the acne lesions heal very slowly.

Skin blemishes may appear on the face, chest, neck, shoulders, and back. These are the spots on the skin where the oil glands are most functioning.

Skin blemishes are more common among teenagers because hormones play a big role in its development. It does not mean however that adults would be spared. People from all age brackets are likely to get acne and skin blemishes. It is prevalent though in women, especially those who have experienced hormonal changes due to menstruation, pregnancy, or the use of birth control pills.
Stop Acne Blemishes

Acne and the skin blemishes can take months, even years to be successfully treated. In more severe situations, it leads to the scarring of the skin and emotional distress. Thankfully, there are medications to effectively make them stop. There are topical ointments for treating acne. They are available and can be bought over the counter. There are also self-help home remedies that have been proven to reduce skin blemishes.
How to Get Rid of Blemishes

Skin blemishes treatment work on reducing the production of the oil glands, fighting the infection, speeding up the skin cell turnover, and reducing the inflammation. Most medications work in a month or two. There are medicines for topical applications and there are also for oral intake.

Here are some of the effective medications:

* topical ointment
* antibiotics
* oral contraceptives
* isotretinoin
* cosmetic procedures like microdermabrasion and chemical peels
* laser and light therapy

How to Treat Blemishes Naturally

Here are some home remedies to cure  skin blemishes:

* Tea tree oil works effectively on the skin blemish.
* Honey mixed with turmeric made into a paste will help remove blemishes.
* Lemon is very effective to remove facial blemishes marks.
* Carrot juice applied on the blemished skin for fifteen minutes and for fifteen days.
* Coconut water dabbed on the affected area for thirty minutes.
* Boiled neem leaves made into a paste applied on the blemishes will reduce the marks.
* Heavy moisturizer should be applied on the skin especially during winter.
* The juice of watermelon applied on the skin and massaged for 15 minutes will surely help in getting rid of blemishes.

Mowing the lawn can help you beat stress, a new study has suggested.
Researchers have found that a chemical released by freshly mowed grass can help people relax and make them cheerful, thus slowing down the decline in mental ability with age.
Scientists claim the scent released from the grass works directly on the brain, specially affecting the emotional and memory parts called the amygdala and the hippocampus.
After seven years of rigorous research, scientists now claim to have made a perfume, the “eau de mow” which “smells like a freshly-cut lawn”, and helps relieve stress and enhance memory.
Dr Nick Lavidis, a neuroscientist at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, developed the idea of the perfume, named Serenascent, after he trekked a US forest twenty years ago. The Telegraph quoted him as saying: “Three days in Yosemite National Park felt like a three-month holiday.
“I didn”t realise at the time that it was the actual combination of feel-good chemicals released by the pine trees, the lush vegetation and the cut grass that made me feel so relaxed.
“Years later my neighbour commented on the wonderful smell of cut grass after I had mowed the lawn and it all started to click into place.” Dr Lavidis said the grass” smell directly affected the brain”s emotional and memory parts.
He said: “These two areas are responsible for the flight or fight response and the endocrine system, which controls the releasing of stress hormones like corticosteroids. “The new spray appears to regulate these areas.
“There are two types of stress. The first is when you are about to perform something or you know you are going to have to do something well. That”s acute stress and can be a good form of stress. “Bad stress is chronic stress and is associated with an increase in blood pressure, forgetfulness and a weakening of the immune system.”
Chronic stress can actually damage the hippocampus in the brain, which can lead to memory loss. Students of the Australian project found animals exposed to Serenascent had little or no damage to the hippocampus.
The scent is believed to have the “pleasant aroma of a freshly-cut lawn or a walk through a lush forest”. Dr Lavidis, who worked with pharmacologist Professor Rosemary Einstein, said: “It can be used as a room spray or a personal spray on bed linen, a handkerchief or clothing. Down the track we will look at incorporating the feel good chemicals into other products.” — ANI

Sales of emergency contraceptive pills have shot up nearly 40 percent in the past six months in this city, says the Chemists and Drug Association (CDA). A majority of buyers are women and doctors are alarmed by the trend.
“Earlier, medicine shops in Lucknow used to sell seven-eight tablets a day. This has now shot up to even 25 tablets on some days. In the past six months, the demand has gone up up nearly 40 percent,” said CDA president Giriraj Rastogi.
The main reason, Rastogi told IANS, is the increased frequency of advertisements promoting such products. “Be it print or electronic media, the frequency has increased in the past few months. You switch on the television set and you can see such ads within 10 minutes.” According to the CDA, a majority of the buyers are women in the 16-35 age group. But health officials warn against frequent usage without medical guidance, saying contraceptive pills can prove harmful.
“If a woman has not taken any regular contraceptive, then the emergency pill can be used. However, if taken regularly, it could result in ailments like irregularity in menstrual cycle,” said Meenu Sagar, chief medical superintendent of the government-run Virangana Avantibai Women’s Hospital.
“These pills generate extra hormones in the body, which can later create problems if the user wants to conceive,” Sagar contended, adding that it could even lead to infertility. “It is safe to consume these pills once a month, but taking four-five times could be dangerous,” she added.
Doctors at the Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Medical University say regular use of these pills was an irresponsible approach to avoid pregnancy. “Any invention could only be profitable for humans if it is used responsibly,” said Neha Tiwari, a doctor at the medical school.
“Sexually active couples and teenagers are gradually making the emergency pills a part of their life which is wrong. This is a very irresponsible way to avoid pregnancy and steps should be taken to spread awareness among the masses,” Tiwari told IANS. Others said rampant over-the-counter sale of the pills had to be checked.
“Earlier, teenagers and unmarried couples had some fear about sex. But over-the-counter sales of such pills will surely increase the tendency to have sex before marriage. This should be sold only after a proper prescription by a doctor,” said Anil Nishchal, a psychiatrist at the same university. — IANS

The eye is like a camera with a lens inside to focus and a film in the back for exposure of the image. The film part of the camera in the eye is called the retina and this retinal layer is attached to the inside of the eye ball like a wallpaper. Imagine a small tear on your wall paper, which, if you don’t patch straight away, will gradually peel off.
Similarly, if there is a tear or a hole in the retinal periphery that is not repaired in time, the retina will slowly peel off leading to a retinal detachment (RD), which could cause blindness, if not treated in time.
Symptoms of retinal detachment include flashes in vision along with floaters (like mosquitoes flying around in front of the eye) which people often dismiss as signs of weakness. However, these could be the first signs of a retinal tear or a hole, which if left untreated could lead to RD and a subsequent loss of vision. The main culprit for these tears and holes is a weak area in the retinal periphery also known as lattice degeneration.
What is the best mode of treatment for this condition? Of course, prevention. At the stage of lattice degeneration or a flat hole or a tear, the patching could be done by applying green laser microscopic burns all around the weak areas, thus preventing RD.
A retinal detachment never occurs because of laser application or improper reading or television watching habits or even mismanaging contact lenses. A retinal detachment can happen at any given age, but it is common in people suffering from short sightedness (myopic).
In fact one of the main reasons why the British government provides free eye tests to its citizens is because of silent killers of the eye like glaucoma, diabetes.
The surgical results of retinal detachment are always with guarded prognosis and is dependent on how extensive the detachment is. Hence, prevention is better than cure.
It is advised that everybody, especially those suffering from myopia gets an annual eye test done. Do request the specialist to include pressure check ups and retinal check ups. An eye test is never complete without checking the pressures and the retina. And all it will cost you to ensure the safety of your eyes is a meagre Rs 150-Rs 200

Women have a thing for men who are prepared to ‘chip in’ around the house, according to a new study.
The Oxford University study looked at relationships in 13 countries to reach the conclusion. The researchers quizzed 13,500 men and women aged between 20 and 45 from each country about gender, housework and childcare responsibilities. The research ranked British men as the third most likely to win women’s hearts through their devotion to domestic life. Swedes and Norwegians topped the table while Australian men came in last, rated as the least attractive in terms of pulling their weight around the house. The study examined marriage and cohabitation rates across the developed world and compared them to attitudes towards the roles of men and women at home.
Based on their responses, each country was given a rating on an “egalitarian index”, which was then compared against the number of couples living together. Dr Almudena
Seville-Sanz, of the university’s Centre for Time Use Research, said: “This study shows that in egalitarian countries there is less social stigma attached to men doing what was traditionally women’s work. “This leads to men in egalitarian societies taking on more of a domestic role so the likelihood of forming a harmonious household becomes greater, resulting in a higher proportion of couples setting up households in these countries.”

Movement of the joint becomes extremely painful. The most severe case of arthritis is RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. Factors relating to it are fatigue, shock, injury, and exposure to cold and dampness. Weak digestion, constipation, overeating and very little physical activity are the symptoms that can develop in a patient of arthritis.

Here are a few home remedies you can try to feel the pains gradually fade away.

1. Learn self control and how to avoid emotional upsets and see your pains lessen considerably.
2. Gently exercise the afflicted joints in tub full of hot water.
3. Try eliminating sugar, white flour, macaroni, pie, cake, and sweet drinks from your diet.
4. Add one tablespoon cod liver oil to the juice of one orange, whip and drink before retiring. Rub the aching joints with hot vinegar before going to bed.
5. Two teaspoons apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of honey dissolved in a small glass of warm water taken once or twice a day brings relief.
6. Apply cool sandalwood paste on the painful joint.
7. One raw clove of garlic every day is very beneficial. This clove can be fried in ghee (clarified butter) or castor oil.
8. Go in for regular steam baths and body massages. Have a bath in the sea or in hot water springs if you can. Avoid cold water baths or treatments. Add Epsom salt to your bath water to reduce inflammation and stiffness of joints.
9. Keep your body warm at all times.
10. Consuming 1-2 tsp of fresh or dried ginger powder may reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
11. Consume extra supplements of calcium, zinc or Vitamin C, eat a few walnuts or a fresh coconut on an empty stomach.
12. Drink some radish juice and sugar as therapeutic measure.
13. Vitamins C and E, magnesium, B-6, and niacin can help with stiffness.

Body odor is the term referred to any kind of unpleasant smell associated with an individuals body .

Contributors to the Odor

• Any prolonged and chronic disease, for e.g. medical conditions such as thyroid and characinoid syndrome can cause excessive sweating
• Use of drugs, side effects of some medicines, e.g. anti-depressants Certain foods and beverages
• Anxiety
• Menopause in women
• Over secretion of hormones
• Constipation

Ways to Control Body Odor

Once you know that you have a problem of body odor, try out the following tips:

1. Never repeat clothes, wear clean clothes everyday. However clean your body is, the clothes will retain the smell of yesterdays sweat.
2. Avoid wearing synthetic clothes.
3. Avoid hot drinks.
4. Bathe atleast once with an antibacterial soap, particularly your armpits, groin and feet where there are many sweat producing glands.
5. Another useful trick would be to remove underarm hair. Armpit hair provides a greater surface area for sweat to adhere to and gives the bacteria a fertile breeding ground.
6. The use of antiperspirants and deodorants should be routine. Deodorants work by masking the smell of sweat with fragrance, while antiperspirants reduce the amount of sweat your body produces.

Home Remedies for Body Odor

• Take 500 mg of wheat grass daily on an empty stomach with a glass of water. The chlorophyll in it will reduce the body odor and is a natural body odor remedy.
• Application of baking soda to the armpits and feet will minimize the body odor.
• Use alcohol or white vinegar to wash the armpits.Add a few drops of rose water into your bathtub or bucket of water before taking bath. No deodorant is required after the bath. This is a very simple and effective home remedy.
• Apple cider vinegar reduces the pH of the skin and eliminates armpit odor when used in place of deodorant.
  Take juice from about two dozens radishes and add 1/4 teaspoon of glycerin to it and put it in a spray — top bottle. Use this as an underarm deodorant.
• Instead of using deodorant use baby powder or talc in the areas with high perspiration.

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