philstar.com – Health And Family

philstar.com - Health And Family

China reports first case of imported Zika virus

General

Feb 102016

BEIJING — China’s first case of the Zika virus has been found in a 34-year-old man who recently traveled to Venezuela and is now making a speedy recovery, the government said Wednesday.

The man from the southern city of Ganzhou had been treated in Venezuela on Jan. 28 before returning home on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.

The commission said he had been confirmed as having the Zika virus on Tuesday and was being treated at the Ganxian People’s Hospital. His temperature is now normal and a skin rash is receding, it said.

The commission said the chances of the virus spreading in China were “extremely low” due to cold winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity, the primary avenue by which Zika is transmitted.

The Zika virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America. Most people who contract it have either mild or no symptoms, but it is suspected of causing a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads.

Bernhard Schwartlander, the World Health Organization representative in Beijing, said imported cases of Zika in China are to be expected given the frequency of travel between the country and South America.

Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

“Chinese health authorities are well prepared to respond to this and any further imported cases,” Schwartlander said in a statement issued by his office. “The current risk of a widespread outbreak of Zika virus in China is low.”

Romy Sia: Take charge of your health — and the environment, too!

General

Oct 192015

Romy Sia: Take charge of your health — and the environment, too!

Romy Sia at Healthy Options, Glorietta 2: “In the first 10 years of Healthy Options, we were able to create awareness of natural health. It’s all about eating healthy, living well, being fit.” He may wear many hats but businessman Romy Sia is, first and foremost, a good, devoted dad who wants only the best for his children. How it broke his heart when, many years ago, he found out that his son Sean, then a toddler, was allergic to corn. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him and his wife Janet who now have to gingerly sift through every single label of the products they buy in the supermarket to make sure their precious son does not ingest corn or anything with corn as a hidden ingredient. He wanted to help his son (and parents of children with allergies) by keeping him away from products that could harm his health. He looked around and realized there was hardly any health store in Metro Manila back then. So he put up Healthy Options, which is what its name suggests. Fast-forward to 2015: Twenty years later, Romy now runs 25 store branches — and counting — of Healthy Options located nationwide, and it is now the country’s leading all-natural health store. And Sean is now a smart young man in his early 20s. Yes, everything you see in the supermarket, you will probably find at Healthy Options — only healthier options. Starting out with healthy snackfoods like Read More …

King James gives back

Entertainment

Aug 312015

Shooting star: NBA superstar LeBron James regales thousands of Filipino fans at the MOA Arena as he turns the last two minutes of the Nike Rise exhibition game into a dunk fest of his shooting brilliance. If you have 23.4 million followers on Twitter, 12.4 million followers on Instagram, and 22 million likes on Facebook or an aggregate social media following of almost 58 million like NBA superstar LeBron James, then you command a huge influence fit for a king. Enough influence to be the second in income earnings, especially through his endorsements. Enough likes to make him the number one basketball player in terms of social media domination. LeBron, perhaps the greatest basketball player of this generation, has a fiercely commanding control of the hard court. You see the intensity not only in his decisive moves but also in the cold steel focus of his eyes. Fiercely competitive, he fights another battle for poor children off the hard court. He is fighting to give them an opportunity to be trained, be mentored, to rise amid obstacles and shine. Before he left for Asia, LeBron announced that he would be providing scholarships to thousands of indigent children in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. In China and the Philippines, he mentored and inspired young street ballers selected via a reality basketball camp fully sponsored by Nike called Rise. LeBron’s deadly combination of speed and size makes him the most gifted pound-for-pound athlete in the world. His athleticism and skills, combined with Read More …

Teens are shopping more like their parents

Entertainment

Aug 252015

Teens are shopping more like their parents

In this July 27, 2015, photo, Sofia Harrison, 15, right, and some of her friends browse clothing at a shopping mall in Garden City, N.Y. Teens aren’t roaming around at the mall for kicks during back-to-school. They’re researching the looks they want online and follow popular hashtags on social media so they can piece together looks before they get there. AP/Seth Wenig GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Giulia Pugliese is a typical teenager. She likes to look good, and she’s particular about what she wears. But when The Associated Press followed the 15-year-old from Long Island on a recent back-to-school shopping trip with friends, she left a Nike store empty-handed — even though Nike is one of her favorites. The reason? “I buy on sale because it’s stupid to buy a pair of shorts for $60,” said Pugliese, who instead looks for the “Swoosh” logo in discount stores like Marshalls. Teens are shopping like their parents during the back-to-school season, and that’s putting a lot of pressure on retailers to change the way they market to them. Gone are the spending sprees, starting weeks before school bells ring. More teens are thrifty nowadays, a habit picked up from their recession-scarred parents. Today’s kids recycle more clothes from the previous school year, mixing and matching the old with the new for different looks. They also shop year-round for things they need so they’re spending less money this time of year. When they do buy, they’re less likely to get anything that’s not Read More …

Cape Cod race lets runners compete virtually from treadmills

Entertainment

Aug 142015

Cape Cod race lets runners compete virtually from treadmills

Joe Ciavattone, an employee of Outside Interactive, demonstrates the company’s virtual race technology at the New Balance Falmouth Road Race expo in Falmouth, Mass. AP/Collin Binkley FALMOUTH, Mass. — Runners who failed to snag a coveted bib in a Cape Cod road race can now compete virtually from treadmills anywhere. The New Balance Falmouth Road Race is among the first races to let runners download an app with video of the actual course and run from home or the gym. The race on Sunday is letting 100 runners race virtually as a pilot, while more than 12,000 compete in-person. The company behind the technology says other races have agreed to adopt it, and another company plans to offer a virtual version of the London Marathon next year. Some are calling it the future of road running. Virtual runners will use a video of the Falmouth course filmed last year. Their times won’t count among those who run in person.

Drug execs behind female libido pill have run afoul of FDA

General

Aug 142015

Drug execs behind female libido pill have run afoul of FDA

Sprout Pharmaceuticals CEO Cindy Whitehead works in her office in Raleigh, N.C. AP/Allen G. Breed WASHINGTON — A small drugmaker from North Carolina may succeed next week where many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies have failed: in winning approval for the first drug to boost women’s sexual desire. The husband-and-wife team that founded Sprout Pharmaceuticals is not new to the pharmaceutical business or even to marketing drugs to people frustrated with their sex lives. The couple’s previous company, Slate Pharmaceuticals, sold an implantable testosterone pellet to men with low levels of the hormone. But Slate’s marketing push ran afoul of federal rules, making misleading, unsupported statements about the benefits of testosterone therapy while downplaying risks. In fact, when the Food and Drug Administration held a meeting examining the overprescribing of testosterone last year, it played Slate’s commercial as an example of inappropriate marketing. That record worries Sprout’s critics, who see a troubling pattern in the aggressive tactics it has used to urge the FDA to approve the women’s desire drug, which was previously rejected twice because of lackluster effectiveness and side effects such as nausea, dizziness and fainting. The search for a pill to increase women’s libido has been something of a holy grail for the pharmaceutical industry since the blockbuster success of Viagra for men in the late 1990s. Pfizer, Bayer and Procter & Gamble all studied — then abandoned — potential treatments for female sexual desire disorder. Sprout “already has a history of unethical marketing,” said Dr. Read More …

UN official: Ebola epidemic could be defeated by end of 2015

General

Aug 132015

UN official: Ebola epidemic could be defeated by end of 2015

The Ebola virus under the microscope. Philstar.com/AP/File UNITED NATIONS — The head of the World Health Organization says the Ebola epidemic in West Africa can be defeated by the end of the year if the number of new cases drops to zero and remains at zero. Dr. Margaret Chan told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that there have been no new cases in Liberia, and only three new cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea, in each of the last two weeks, the lowest numbers in well over a year. She says fears that the Ebola virus could be permanently established in humans in the region have also been defeated, which is “very good news.” But Chan also cautions against “a false sense of security.”

Summer Tips & Tricks 1: Quick fix for sunburns

Entertainment

Apr 082015

Summer Tips & Tricks 1: Quick fix for sunburns

We know just how much you love the big waves and grainy sand, but not the sunburns that you get from staying too much on the beach. Stock photo MANILA, Philippines – We know just how much you love the big waves and grainy sand, but not the sunburns that you get from staying too much on the beach. For this summer season, we got a simple solution for those unwanted sunburns! All you need is the aloe vera freeze! The most natural sunburn relief comes from pots. Aloe vera provides a cooling sensation that works instantly. Andreas Issleib/CC BY Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: What you need: aloe vera leaves ice cube container glass spoon knife Note: Make sure that the aloe vera leaves are mature enough to be harvested. If you don’t have one in your yard, head to the supermarket. How to make aloe vera freeze: After cutting the leaves from the plant, place it in the glass. Let the gel leak from the leaf into your container for fifteen minutes. Add a small amount of water to the gel leak which you have extracted from the leaves and set aside. Using a knife, remove the rough parts of the leaf. Cut into lengthwise and use spoon to scrape off the gel. Place the gel in the ice cube container and add a small amount of the gel leak to each to beef up each cube. Let it freeze inside the refrigerator overnight just before Read More …

A Debutante’s Wish

Entertainment

Apr 072015

During the time when both social media and traditional media were dishing out updates on the debut bash of Julia Barretto, I received a heartwarming email from a reader. Here it is. Good day po, Ms. Rose. Ako po si Wheng, second year college student sa isang university dito sa Cagayan de Oro. Ngayon pong darating na Mayo eh, mag de-debut na po ako. Medyo malapit na po ang araw na yun kaya naisipan ko ang mga bagay na dapat kong isaalang-alang, lalo na’t ang pagiging 18 ay nagbibigay sa aming mga kabataan ng bagong mga responsibilidad. Nais ko po sanang matuto tungkol sa saving and investing. Isang araw kasi, may nabasa po akong isang article niyo tungkol sa pag-i-invest. Nagka-interes po ako kaya’t binasa ko ito lahat. Gusto ko po sanang magsimulang mag invest habang maaga pa. Gusto ko po kasing maging successful balang araw. Kaso, wala po akong malapitan upang makahingi ng payo tungkol sa pera. Kaya, kung bubutihin niyo po, gusto kong matuto kung ano po yung dapat kong gawin na pangunahing mga steps tungkol sa pag-i-invest. Sana po ay matulungan niyo po ako sa aking nais. Maraming salamat. Kaawaan kayo ng Diyos. – Wheng via email Right after reading her letter, I felt the urge to bring this May debutante to our May 9 event! I said to myself, “I wish I were Oprah so I can fly her in and bring her to our Family FQ Workshop and really grant her 18th birthday wish to learn Read More …

An Invitation and a Side Story

Entertainment

Mar 312015

I cordially invite you to come to this very special event that my boys and I are preparing for you – The Family FQ Workshop by the Faustos on May 9, 2015 1-5:30pm at the SMX Convention Center of SM Aura in Taguig City. But let me start with a background. I’m an advocate of purposeful parenting. I gave up a promising investment banking career to devote my focused and undivided attention to the growing up years of my sons. Then they grew up and I was pleased (well, more than pleased, very proud) of how they turned out to be, and midlife came and I felt the need to share what I knew about parenting; hence, the book Raising Pinoy Boys was born. In showbiz, they say, “Once an actress, always an actress.” Maybe in my case, “Once an investment banker, always an investment banker.” for the common favorite chapter of my first book turned out to be Chapter 6: Money Matters where I introduced the term FQ (Financial Intelligence Quotient). Readers probably found it weird but were amused that little boys had their own Balance Sheets. And so here I am sharing with you what I know about raising children with high FQ. I also believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating so I find it always a delight when my sons come with me to my talks and help me in the Q&A portion. I guess the audience get a lot more insights Read More …

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