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New blood tests reveal the drinking habits of pregnant women

Pregnant women are being asked to take new blood tests that reveal their drinking habits and could leave them accused of putting the health of their unborn children at risk.
The test, which gives results in an hour, allows midwives to construct a picture of how much a mother-to-be has drunk over the previous fortnight, even if she has avoided alcohol in the days before the appointment.
The blood test reveals evidence of heavy long-term drinking, while a related urine test also reveals more occasional binge-drinking. Excessive drinking during pregnancy can lead to a range of mental and physical birth defects known collectively as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
The blood test, which is used occasionally by airlines to monitor the alcohol intake of pilots, has been introduced by a hospital in North London.
The innovation arose from a chance conversation between a biochemist and a senior midwife at the Homerton Hospital in Hackney last November.
The midwife said that it was a pity there was nothing available to find out how much pregnant women were really drinking. Jean Deenmamode, the biochemist, said that there was, at his on-site laboratory. Since then, about 300 tests, costing £18 each, have been carried out on a voluntary basis. The Department of Health has been told of the programme and said that it would keep it “under consideration”.
“The midwives said they were unhappy that they were not really getting an accurate picture of alcohol consumption in some women. They were using detective work really, asking questions and trying to build a picture,” Mr Deenmamode told The Times.
“They were amazed when I said this test was being conducted in the hospital lab already. Now they offer it as a ‘lifestyle alcohol assessment’. It’s voluntary, but routine at the time of the first booking appointment. We have not fully evaluated it yet but the midwives are convinced it is leading to a reduction in drinking because women are faced with actual evidence on a chart.”
The test for heavy drinking is called CDT and traces the carbohydrate deficient transferrin protein, which is elevated in the blood for several weeks when excessive amounts of alcohol are ingested. The test for binge-drinking is called EtG and traces ethyl glucuronide in urine. It is a direct metabolite of alcohol and can be traced many days after drinking in serum, hair, saliva, urine and post-mortem tissue.
Normally these tests take days to turn around. The laboratory at Homerton is the only one in the country that can produce results within the hour.
Three years ago the Government changed its advice and recommended that pregnant women should avoid alcohol altogether — it had previously suggested that moderate drinking was safe. But midwives said it was not clear if that had had a major impact. They hoped the test could soon be available at other hospitals.
Moira Marks, a specialist midwife at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, said: “Women want to do the best for their babies, but they are often in denial about how much they are drinking. This test can be a wake-up call and can motivate them to cut down or stop.”
Ms Marks suggested that midwives first raised the subject of drinking as part of a general chat about sleeping and diet, and asked women if they had heard about the national recommendations to stop, rather than telling them.
She added that it was important that midwives did not just let the issue go if women were evasive.

Doctors recommend universal screening due to prevalence of colorectal cancer

The specialist: Dr. Randolph Steinhagen on colorectal cancer
As chief of Mount Sinai Medical Center's Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Steinhagen treats patients who suffer from disorders like colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He has been at Mount Sinai for more than 30 years.
Who's at risk
Colorectal cancer is a malignancy that arises at the end of the intestinal tract in the colon or rectum. "By definition, cancer has the ability to break off from the region where it arose and spread to other parts of the body," says Steinhagen. "Colorectal cancers frequently spread to the liver."
About 150,000 cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, making it one of the most common cancers in this country. "Overall, it's the second most common cancer after lung cancer," says Steinhagen. "It's responsible for 40,000 to 50,000 deaths a year."
It's so prevalent that doctors recommend universal screening, usually starting at age 50. While there are risk factors for colorectal cancer, Steinhagen stresses that "the short answer is - everyone is at risk of colorectal cancer." Men and women are equally affected, and your risk goes up with age. You're considered at high risk if you have IBD or a family history of colorectal cancer or any syndrome associated with polyps.
Doctors believe that all colorectal cancers start out as benign polyps. "These polyps can be seen and removed in colonoscopy, thus preventing colorectal cancer," says Steinhagen. "That's why we push for people to go for colonoscopy." Because of this link between benign polyps and cancer, you're considered at higher risk if you have a parent who has had polyps removed.
Signs and symptoms
Most colorectal cancers give no warning signs until they are well advanced. "At the earliest stages, when it's just a benign polyp or even early cancer, there are no symptoms," says Steinhagen. "That's why it's important for people to go for colonoscopy even if they're asymptomatic." For most other types of cancer, screening tests hope to catch cancers early, but colonoscopy actually identifies polyps for removal before they become cancerous. "In colorectal cancer, we can use screening for prevention," says Steinhagen. "There aren't too many other situations where we can prevent the disease this well."
Most doctors recommend that patients with no risk factors start getting colonoscopies at age 50. If no polyps are detected, the test can be repeated every 10 years. "If you find polyps or another abnormality, it is done more often, depending on what is found," says Steinhagen.
A minority of patients do experience symptoms like a change in bowel habits (which can involve moving your bowels more or less often), blood in the stool, feeling an unrelieved need to move the bowels, unexplained weakness, weight loss or anemia. "But the absence of signs and symptoms is not reassurance that colorectal cancer isn't present," says Steinhagen.
Traditional treatment
The treatment of colorectal cancer usually starts with removing polyps during a colonoscopy. For many patients, this is enough to prevent the cancer. "If there's a cancer already present, we biopsy the cancer and move on to more radical forms of treatment," says Steinhagen.
"Basically, the treatment for colorectal cancer is a surgical procedure called resection," he notes. "We remove the piece of colon where the cancer is growing, remove the surrounding lymph nodes and then reconnect the ends of the colon." After surgery, the patient does not generally have any impairment of bowel function. Chemotherapy is usually only added if the tumor is more advanced, and radiation is only used for advanced rectal cancer.
Colorectal resection is major surgery that takes two to four hours and usually requires a four- or five-day hospital stay, followed by a few weeks recuperating at home. "Colorectal cancer can often be treated laparoscopically, depending on the tumor, patient and surgeon," says Steinhagen. "There's a cosmetic benefit and a slight recovery benefit to laparoscopy, whose main advantage is a smaller incision."
Colorectal cancer is potentially deadly and needs to be taken seriously, but patients continue to hold common misconceptions that the disease is even worse than it is in reality. "What I tell patients is, first of all, colorectal cancer is not a death sentence - the prognosis is excellent," says Steinhagen. If the cancer is found early, the cure rate is close to 85%; even when the cancer is more advanced, the cure rate is 60% to 70%. "Also, only very, very rarely is a colostomy bag required - that's less than 5% of the time," says Steinhagen. "We can usually reconnect the plumbing so everything works."
Research breakthroughs
Though thousands of Americans still die of colorectal cancer each year, doctors are increasingly able to treat more and more of the cancers they diagnose. "First of all, there are new chemotherapy drugs - and there are more new ones coming - that have continued to improve the results for patients with advanced tumors," says Steinhagen. "Plus, there are new techniques and devices, including robotic surgery, that hold the promise of doing more and more surgeries with even better results."
Questions for your doctor
The first question to ask is, "At what age should I have my first colonoscopy?" While the answer is usually 50, your doctor may recommend an earlier screening if you have any risk factors. If you're feeling anxious about the test, ask, "Is colonoscopy safe? Does it hurt?" Colonoscopies are very safe, with a low rate of complications. As for pain, "Most of the time, patients don't feel anything," says Steinhagen. "And many don't even recall the procedure, due to the anesthesia used."
What you can do
Get a colonoscopy.
Colorectal cancer is one of the cancers that doctors can prevent effectively. "Removing benign polyps can prevent cancer from forming," says Dr. Steinhagen.
Don't ignore changes.
If you have changes in your bowel habits, go for a checkup. "Finding colorectal cancer early will save your life," says Steinhagen.

Students' right to be nasty on net upheld

LOS ANGELES: A US District Court judge has sided with a student who posted an allegedly bullying video on YouTube, saying the school went too far in suspending her.
Amid rising concerns over cyber bullying, and even calls for its criminalisation, some courts, parents and free speech advocates are fighting back: students, they say, have a right to be nasty in cyberspace.
One morning in May last year, a student walked crying into Janice Hart's office at a Beverly Hills school. She had been humiliated and couldn't face going to class, the girl told the counsellor.
The night before, a classmate had posted a video on YouTube with a group of other students bad-mouthing her, calling her ''spoiled'', a ''brat'' and a ''slut''.
Text and instant messages had been flying ever since. Half the class must have seen the video by now, the girl said. The counsellor took the problem to the principal, who took it to a district administrator, who asked the school district's lawyers what they could do.
In the end, citing ''cyber bullying'' concerns, school officials suspended the girl who posted the video for two days.
That student took the case to court, saying her right to free speech had been violated.
Judge Stephen Wilson wrote in his judgment: ''To allow the school to cast this wide a net and suspend a student simply because another student takes offence to their speech, without any evidence that such speech caused a substantial disruption of the school's activities, runs afoul [of the law].
''The court cannot uphold school discipline of student speech simply because young persons are unpredictable or immature, or because, in general, teenagers are emotionally fragile and may often fight over hurtful comments.''
The ability of schools to limit student speech is an age-old issue that has been repeatedly tried and tested in the courts.
But with teenagers increasingly in cyberspace, school officials find themselves on unfamiliar grounds. Free-speech advocates said the notoriety of highly publicised cases, such as the Missouri girl who committed suicide after a mean-spirited MySpace message, have led to schools cracking down on student expression on the internet.
''If all cruel teasing led to suicide, the human race would be extinct,'' said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California in Los Angeles.
In Pennsylvania, a student sued when he was suspended for 10 days for creating a MySpace profile of the school principal. The student referred to the principal as a ''big steroid freak'' and a ''big whore'' and said that he was ''too drunk to remember'' the date of his birthday.
The judge found that even though the profile was ''lewd, profane and sexually inappropriate'', the school did not have the right to restrict speech because the profile did not cause disruption on campus.

Glasgow’s Small Animal Hospital: pets go private

Glasgow’s new £15 million Small Animal Hospital has better facilities than many places that treat people – but it comes at a price.

A road traffic accident (RTA) victim is being prepared for surgery. Nurses buzz about purposefully while the orthopaedic surgeon Damian Chase and anaesthetist Andy Bell, dressed in dark-blue scrubs, briskly discuss the case. The impact has fractured the left femur into five pieces and broken the right side of the pelvis.
'It’s going to be two surgeries in one, really,’ Chase says. 'There’s a big fragment of pelvis that I’m worried about.’
Meanwhile, down the corridor in Diagnostic Imaging, a three-year-old patient that has been suffering fits is being wheeled through for a CT angiogram.
'You have to pinch yourself to realise this is not a human hospital,’ remarks Paula Sharp, a groomed, trouser-suited figure amid the scrubs and plastic aprons.
The RTA heading into surgery is a one-year-old domestic cat called Lennon; the tiny figure that passes through the doughnut of the CT scanner is Pepe, a Yorkshire terrier.
We are in Glasgow’s Small Animal Hospital, a £15 million referral facility that opened in September and that can treat animals 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Sharp is its commercial director.
The hospital, part of Glasgow University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on the leafy Garscube estate in the west of the city, was a decade in the planning and now stands as a world leader in the treatment of companion animals.
Better than a human hospital
'There’s nowhere better in Europe, that’s for sure,’ Professor David Bennett, the faculty’s associate dean for clinical operations, says. 'I don’t think there’s anywhere better in America either.’
Britain has other advanced facilities, in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Bristol and Cambridge, but nothing as well equipped. It was funded by Glasgow University, plus loans and donations from a variety of charities, animal lovers and alumni.
Bennett believes it has been money well spent. 'It has all that you would expect in a modern hospital,’ he says. 'In fact, the facilities you see here are equivalent to or better than you’d find in a human hospital.’
The advanced specialist equipment, such as an MRI scanner, CT scanner and digital X-ray, helps give the hospital what many refer to as its 'wow factor’. That feeling is palpable as soon as you approach the 4,500sq m building, with its impressive grass-covered roof.
According to the architect who designed it, Russell Baxter of Archial Group, it appears as if 'we lifted up the ground and tucked the hospital underneath’. The building was designed to make maximum use of natural light, and is already assuming its intended flagship status – it won both the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland award and the Glasgow Institute of Architects Supreme Award last month.
Inside, the glass entrance gives way to a handsome reception area in warm oak veneer, complete with enormous flatscreen television and fitted with ranks of high-backed wooden seats upholstered in spring shades of green. Nestled at the end of one bench is a cute two-year-old Brussels griffon named D’Arcy (after the Irish rugby international Gordon D’Arcy). He is owned by Liz Cronin, an elegant housewife who has driven 130 miles from Keswick.
All the animals that visit the hospital have been referred by local vets – they come from all over Scotland and the north of England (even from as far as Southampton for very specialist treatment). The fur on D’Arcy’s face is clipped short and an external brace made from putty is keeping his jaw in place. It is about five weeks since D’Arcy slipped his collar while on a walk and was hit by a car, breaking his jaw and pelvis.
'I usually have him in a harness,’ Cronin says. She initially feared he was beyond help, but her vet stabilised D’Arcy for three days before referring him to the hospital, which had opened a couple of weeks earlier.
'The difficulty is that his bones are so tiny and thin; they could not pin his jaw,’ Cronin says. She is hoping that they will be able to remove the brace today. 'His breath’s getting a bit smelly now.’ Like many of the pet owners I spoke to, Cronin has nothing but praise for the hospital and its staff. 'It’s a fantastic facility,’ she says.
Dr Jo Morris, the head of oncology here, reflects how pet owners’ experiences have changed compared with the university's previous Small Animal Hospital, which opened in 1986 (it is now being used for the training of undergraduate vets).
'In the new building, clients do feel like they have come to a special place,’ she says. 'It inspires confidence.’There is added reassurance from the emphasis on transparency in the hospital’s design. 'Hospitals can be quite scary places,’ Baxter says, 'but here there’s a feeling that nothing is being hidden from the public.’
The inpatient wards have windows through which owners are encouraged to look in on their pets, while the centre of the hospital is a large open-plan treatment area. Around this 'fulcrum’ (as Baxter describes it), with natural light that comes in from the roof 13m above, all other departments are arranged – intensive care unit, high dependency unit, endoscopy suite, day wards, oncology, diagnostic imaging and four operating theatres. At one corner is the pain rehabilitation unit and hydrotherapy suite, which features an underwater treadmill for dogs.
Veterinary students from the university will benefit from access to this state-of-the-art equipment. Twenty-six nursing students will come to the Small Animal Hospital each year, and Janis Hamilton, a senior nursing tutor, says that being based in the central treatment area will definitely speed up their learning. 'It throws them into the middle of everything; they have to be alert and ready to help with procedures all the time.’
The hospital is already proving a strong attraction for applicants from Britain and overseas (at undergraduate level, a sixth of the intake are overseas students; at postgraduate level it is about half). New Zealander Damian Chase, a soft-tissue and orthopaedic surgery resident, is thrilled by the 'four beautiful theatres’, all with external windows. 'The ability to teach in surgery is much better,’ he says. 'There are cameras in the theatres that link to the seminar rooms so more students are able to watch surgeries without scrubbing in.’
'We’ve no kids, they’re our family’
Designing the working hospital was an inclusive process, according to Rory Bell, the head of internal medicine who has been based in Glasgow since 2002. 'Everyone’s opinions were sought. It feels very much like our hospital.’
'Everyone’s happier, there’s a good atmosphere,’ Professor Jacques Penderis, a neurology specialist, says. 'If I were a dog, I’d much rather be surrounded by smiling people.’
'He gets spoilt rotten here, always lots of fuss,’ says Lesley Leggat, the owner of Mac, a sizeable two-year-old Newfoundland who has been receiving treatment for a catalogue of leg problems since he was three months old.
Sitting in a consulting-room, Leggat quietly explains how Mac was given pioneering surgery at 10 months to correct the bilateral carpal hyperextension on his front legs, which meant he used his entire feet for walking rather than only his toes as would be normal. He has subsequently had cruciate ligaments in both hind legs operated on.
Mac has made an impressive recovery, due in no small part to Leggat’s determination – she takes him for swims in a hydrotherapy pool a short drive from her home in Uplawmoor, near Glasgow, twice a week.
Highly dedicated owners such as Leggat are the norm at the hospital. Scott Henderson, the owner of Pepe the Yorkshire terrier – 'the wee man’ – who was having a CT scan, has been able to arrange his work around hospital visits as he has his own painting and decorating business in Greenock, 20 miles away.
'We wouldn’t be without our dogs,’ Henderson, who also owns a toy poodle called Toby, says. 'We’ve no kids, and they’re our family.’
Pepe’s CT scan has ruled out the possibility of one liver condition, portosystemic shunts; Rory Bell suggests that another, microvascular dysplasia, is the most likely cause of his fits (only a biopsy would absolutely confirm this, which Bell leaves Henderson to consider).
There is no surgical treatment for the condition, but it can be managed therapeutically by altering Pepe’s diet to support his liver. 'The condition shouldn’t affect his long-term survival,’ Bell says, to Henderson’s enormous relief. 'We’re going to get him started straight away on a new diet with vitamins and supplements.’
You could spend £5,000 fairly quickly
The vast majority of animals referred to the hospital are cats and dogs – smaller pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs and rodents are far less likely to be insured by their owners and are seldom referred by vets, but the exotics specialist Alistair Lawrie comes to the hospital every Wednesday to look at 'everything everybody else doesn’t want to see’.
His latest patient is a 'vicious iguana’ over-endowed with male hormone, who flings himself against the glass of his tank whenever a female – humans included – comes near. 'I’m giving him an implant to settle his hormone levels,’ Lawrie says.
About two thirds of the pets referred for treatment are insured. (Some 22.5 per cent of pet owners in Britain have insurance policies, and the increasing provision of high-cost treatments has been noticed by insurers – one of them, Virgin Money Pet Insurance, said the average claim paid out for veterinary treatment has risen from £320 to £700 over the past five years).
But at the hospital, the cost of treatments can exceed the limit on more basic policies. 'If you start having MRI scans, then you could spend up to £5,000 fairly quickly, and that could be the maximum that your insurance policy allows,’ David Bennett says.
The estimated cost of tests and treatment is discussed with animals’ owners in advance and they are required to sign a contract to agree to proceed. In special cases, the hospital arranges treatment at 'cost price’, but this can still be considerable. 'If someone came in for an MRI scan and a major surgery on a slipped disc on their little dachshund, cost recovery is still going to be about £1,500,’ Bennett says.
At present they are unable to treat animals whose owners cannot pay the costs, but there is an intention to set up a benevolent fund to be administered from outside the university to finance treatment for particularly deserving cases.
Sharon and Steve Murney, the owners of Molly, an immaculate short-haired white cat with striking blue eyes ('I bought her for my mum for her birthday and then kept her for myself,’ Sharon says), had no insurance when she was diagnosed by their vet in April 2005. She has haemolytic anaemia, an autoimmune condition that may be secondary to another condition such as a tumour. 'This girl’s cost us a lot of money,’ Steve says.
'The last bill we had was £7,000, wasn’t it?’ Sharon works in the photo development department of Asda in Glasgow, while Steve is a support worker and, at the weekends, a children’s entertainer – he has been taking on extra weekend gigs to help pay the hospital bills.
Molly was first admitted with a red blood cell count of eight (normal is between 30 and 40), her blood like 'pink water’. 'I was devastated,’ Sharon recalls. 'The vet said there was nothing that could be done. But he decided to call the university as a last hope, and they started treatment that day and managed to save her life.’
After blood transfusions, bone-marrow transplants and countless tests that failed to locate a primary tumour that may be causing her condition, Molly has been stabilised on an ongoing daily dose of steroid tablets with check-ups every six months. Were it not for the hospital, she might not be alive.
'The awareness of what we can do is definitely increasing among the public,’ Jo Morris, who has been treating Molly, says. 'More and more owners are insured now and they are prepared to investigate the possibilities, rather than just accepting a problem.’
With cancer treatment, a particularly fast-expanding area at the hospital, Morris explains that, in most cases, they are not aiming for complete cure. They treat lymphomas using the same chemotherapy drugs as are used in human treatment.
'Our emphasis is on maintaining quality of life,’ she says. 'We tend to extend an animal’s survival – usually for about a year.’ Morris’s department is in the process of acquiring a linear accelerator, at a cost of more than £500,000, that will be used to administer radiotherapy treatment of cancers – particularly brain tumours, nasal tumours and deep sarcomas.
We are providing what people want
Prof Bennett is quick to defend the existence of a hospital that provides this level of care to animals.
'We’re not competing with the building of a human hospital,’ he says. 'And there’s no National Health Service for animals. I think the veterinary profession is beholden to produce the best healthcare for the pet population that it can, and this is what this facility does. It does come at a cost. But it’s up to the owners how they spend their disposable income and if they want to spend it on their pets then I don’t have a problem with that. Pets are often an important part of the family and there are great benefits in owning pets.’
Along with its training role, the hospital is run as a commercial venture generating income to fund itself, which explains the appointment of a commercial director. Paula Sharp, who for the previous 11 years worked for Marks & Spencer, is charged with increasing the hospital’s reach – the intention is to double the hospital’s caseload over 10 years with a target to treat 22,000 animals annually. Although, as Bennett says, 'There’s no profit associated with this place.’
Some pet owners may hesitate to set out on an involved and costly course of treatment, but Stuart Reid, the dean of the faculty, insists that to offer such advanced options is positive, even if they result in substantial bills. 'We’re not encouraging people to expect something unattainable. We are providing what people want. If we extend an animal’s life by 10 per cent, that is considerable.’
Morris makes it clear that she will not advise a course of treatment for an animal if the chances of extending its life with any comfort are small. She refers to one case, a puppy recently diagnosed with a sizeable tumour (rare in such a young animal); as her team investigates, she is becoming doubtful that either major surgery or ongoing palliative care would be either worthwhile or desirable for the animal.
It is not only the life or death cases that come to Glasgow. The downside to animals living longer is, Bennett says, 'that they are now suffering the diseases you associate with old age, such as arthritis, so controlling pain and trying to improve their musculoskeletal function is very important.’
Samantha Lindley is a specialist in pain management who works at the hospital two days a week employing a combination of treatments, including medication, physiotherapy, behavioural therapy and acupuncture. Her approach is to learn from an animal’s behavioural changes to assess the pain it is experiencing.
'Animals are like humans, and they show pain in different ways. Fifty to 60 per cent of behavioural problems are down to pain,’ she says. Owners are continually surprised that acupuncture is a key and effective part of treatment ('because they think it relies on belief, which it doesn’t’). 'The dogs seem to enjoy coming. There’s an immediate release of neurotransmitters so they relax. The collie I saw this morning had its eyes half closed while I was treating it,’ she says.
Back in the oncology treatment room, Sharon Murney is gathering up Molly who, apart from a slightly peeved expression post-blood test, appears in glowing condition. 'I can’t tell you how fantastic they’ve been here,’ Sharon says. 'So approachable, explaining everything clearly. Hopefully we won’t be back with Molly for another six months, though.’
And with that she, her husband, Steve, and Molly head for home – back to their three rats, one fish and a shih-tzu.

Have They No Shame?

Do women walk around without bras where you live?
Well they do in Hollywood.
All of the time.
Seriously. Its like there's a bra tax or something.

Stars Show Off Their Closets

Eva Longoria Parker

The 133-square-foot master closet in Eva Longoria Parker's L.A. home is full of gorgeous gowns, shoes, shirts—and a coveted Hermes hot-pink crocodile Birkin bag. Taking a glance through her impressive shoe collection she calls her Christian Louboutin espadrille wedges "a beautiful pain" (she sprained her ankle wearing them in Paris) and says she has "always dressed for comfort", which is easily confirmed by the 50 pairs of jeans and more than one pair of Ugg boots. "Tony loves me in Uggs. He says, 'Wear your Hugs, honey'—that's how he pronounces it with his French accent."

Fergie

When Fergie moved in with new husband, Josh Duhamel, she jumped at the opportunity to create a brand new closet. "We knocked down the wall between two rooms and Josh named it Fergieland!" she says. "I designed it myself, so there's a boudoir-boutique feel." The large room is just for Fergie's things (organized by color and category of course), while Josh's clothes are kept in his own closet in the master bedroom. "Before Josh and I moved in together my stuff would be over flowing into piles in the living room at his house." she says. "Now I love the process of picking things out."

Olivia Wilde

Recently, Olivia Wilde and her husband, Tao Ruspoli transformed the guest room and sitting room of their Venice, Calif. townhouse into a walk-in closet and a refined, comfortable office for the actress. The dramatic change was sparked by the Wilde's godmother, Laurie Frank, a well-known L.A. gallerist and decorator, who convinced her to construct a sophisticated cedar-lined closet—outfitted with translucent panels, a plush rug from Cantoni, and a black-glass chandelier from Lawson-Fenning. A perfect home for her many red-carpet dresses and favorite red shoes. The walk-in's decadent centerpiece is a 19th-century mirrored vanity (flanked by two mirrored chests from Anthropologie). "It's from the South of France and has never been restored," she says.

Christina Aguilera

In the Los Angeles mansion she shares with her husband, Jordan Bratman, and their 21-month-old son, Max (shown here), Christina Aguilera has not one but two expansive closets. First stop: Shoes. "Everything on my shoe wall is grouped by designer—Louboutin, McQueen, YSL—all in their own little family," says Aguilera. "And there's room for boots up top." The hyper-organized singer also has zones for her jeans, jackets, coats, skirts, sweaters and jewelry in the ultra-glam room, complete with a chandelier and leopard-print rug.

Nicky Hilton

The Hilton heiress and designer of fashion lines Chic and Nicholai grew up in hotels, but Nicky Hilton now calls a 1950s two-story ranch above the Sunset Strip home. It boasts two "very organized" couture-filled walk-in closets. Her shoe collection, which isn't raided by her friends or family because of her size 10.5 foot, is organized by designer."My Manolos are together, Chanels are together, Louboutins together." Besides the 200 or more handbags she owns, one of Hilton's prized pieces is a Roberto Cavalli beaded butterfly minidress that the designer gave her for her 24th birthday. "I was in Milan and he told me to pick whatever I wanted from his showroom!" she says.

Kimora Lee Simmons

Kimora Lee Simmons, head of Baby Phat clothing line, combined two bedrooms in her 49,000-square-foot Saddle River, N.J. home to create her expansive walk-in closet. "I wanted my closet to look like a boutique," she says. It contains over 500 pairs of jeans, 35 custom-made Hermes Birkin bags and an extensive collection of jewelry. The closet, which is decorated with leopard-print carpet, marble columns, a mini-bar, and flat screen tvs, only holds some of her clothes—the overflow is stored in other bedroom closets. Everything in her closet is photographed and stored on her computer so she can easily put together outfits, "I'm very neurotic is what my closet says about me," she says. "It's always in great order."

Mariah Carey

The five-time Grammy award winning artist has an enormous, climate controlled closet in her 12,000 square foot Manhattan triplex. However, the vast space still can't contain all of Mariah Carey's shoes. "I have about 1,000 pairs of shoes. But lots are in storage," she says. Carey designed the sweeping space with gold-leaf and bleached-wood floors. "Like Louis Vuitton luggage," she says, "it will only look better over time." Few girls would be able to fill the closet, which is arranged by color and material, as well as in event-specific groupings. "If someone else ever bought it [the apartment], she'd have to be a total diva!"

Paula Abdul

The former American Idol judge has an impressive walk-in closet in her 5,000 square foot Mediterranean style home in the San Fernando valley. All her outfits and coordinating accessories are numbered with tags so she can easily pack for trips and events. Her impressive shoe collection is made up mostly of high-heels—"I always wear heels unless I'm working out," says Paula Abdul, who is just over five feet. Even with all of those shoes the former choreographer claims, "A comfortable pair of jeans, a great belt, and a leather jacket is all I need."

Jamie-Lynn Sigler

The Sopranos' actress has completely made-over a 2,700-square-foot Tribeca duplex. "Tribeca is very cool. There's a lot of old architecture and a sense of mystery too." Jamie-Lynn Sigler's 200-square-foot closet was created by Anthony's Custom Closets in Long Island and the new setup helps keep her designer dresses, bags, countless pairs of Genetic jeans, and over 75 pairs of shoes organized. "For years I have not been able to find anything in my closet," says Sigler. "Now I see all my clothes shoes and accessories, even some stuff I completely forgot I had .. with the tags still on them!"

Maria Menounos

The 28-year-old actress and television correspondent has set up house in a white, Georgian-style home in Hollywood, CA. It was decorated with the help of designer Clayton Asher Doyle, of L.A. furnishing store Plantation. She transformed a massive upstairs space into Maria Menounos' "office/hair-makeup-and-dressing room," which houses her Azzaro and Calvin Klein gowns, 50 pairs of jeans, blazers, sweaters, and a cedar walk-in closet devoted mostly to rows of shoes and boots. Even with such an impressive closet, Menounos claims, "I hate shopping. Really. I used to go to the mall once a year and just stock up on white T-shirts, tanks, socks and necessities. Now I need nice clothes for my career."

Boozy Punjabi weddings are now a British problem

London, Dec 11 (IANS) Punjabis in Britain have been ticked off for serving too much alcohol at their weddings - a practice that is not only threatening lives but also putting pressure on families to dish out the drink.
A British charity serving a West London suburb with a large population of Punjabis says the practice has become so widespread that many families of brides complain that the groom’s side pressurises them to serve alcohol when they don’t want to.

The Southall-based Drug and Alcohol Programme (DAAP) says it is now willing to “name and shame” families that exert such pressure, pointing out ethnic Indians - especially Sikhs - in Britain are particularly vulnerable to alcohol-related deaths.
It is teaming up with local gurdwaras to address what it says is a growing problem in Britain.
“There is huge pressure on families to provide alcohol at weddings - the boy’s side usually makes the demand. We have a whole dossier of evidence,” said DAAP’s chief executive officer Perminder Dhillon.

“This problem is extensive now, and it is akin to demanding dowry. We end up supporting users with alcohol-related health problems during the binge-drinking period,” she added in a warning ahead of the festive season in Britain.
She quoted research published in the British Medical Journal as saying men of South Asian origin in Britain are four times more likely to die of alcohol-related liver problems than other ethnic groups. And eighty percent of those South Asians who are vulnerable to alcohol-related mortality are Sikhs, she said.
Dhillon, an award-winning

charity worker, said it was wrong to think that Asians did not binge-drink because of their religion or culture.
“Many parents feel pressurised to provide a huge quantity of alcohol at weddings even if they themselves are non-drinkers. It is seen as cool, fashionable, a sign of being modern and certainly a yardstick to measure the amount of wealth been lavished at the wedding,” she said.
“Our message is simple - name and shame those who do this. We will not be afraid to put these examples up on our website and condemn them. As a community, we really have to take our collective heads out of the sand and acknowledge that there is a problem with excessive drinking.”
Dhillon said the charity was not against “sensible drinking” but added that many guests at weddings tended to mix their drinks, which meant

that “safe levels are exceeded very quickly.”
The DAAP and local gurdwaras will organise a day of action in January 2010 in Southall.
According to an editorial published in the prestigious British Medical Journal in October, alcohol-use among South Asians in Britain is “under-recognised, and alcohol related harm is disproportionately high.”
It said alcohol-related deaths are particularly high among Irish and Scottish people, as well as Indian men.
“Ethnic minorities make up almost eight percent of the population in the United Kingdom, yet their contribution to the cost of alcohol related harm, estimated at &pound20bn ($32bn) a year, is not widely known. This has led to public health policies based on incorrect assumptions,”

5 types of men women hate

We list the most common kinds of men that women love to hate...

humbs down to dominant men : Gone are the days when a male dominated society used to be the way of life. So, if the next time you try to show your superiority in front of your girl, it might land you in a tight spot. Women prefer mates who're recognized by their peers for their skills, abilities, and achievements – and not those who use coercive tactics to subordinate their rivals, reveals a new study.

Expert says : Dr. Chirta Bakshi, a relationship counsellor says, “Dominant behaviour is highly opposed by a female partner as she wants to enjoy the bond with equal respect. In any relationship, if one partner tries to have the upper hand in taking all decisions and if they portray their dominant self, it will not do any good to that relationship.”

Macho guys aren’t always lucky : A macho guy with an angry young man personality might look good on silver screen, but when it comes to real life, women aren’t game to hang around with macho dudes. A recent study claims that macho guys don't always get the girls. The study further revealed that the most aggressive guys ended up with fewer wives and children.

Expert says : Personality development expert Varun Chhabra says, “Women today are more keen to pick a guy who flaunts a good body combined with a metro sexual image rather than the typical rough and tough hunk. Men who look tough from the outside and bear a soft heart within are women’s favourite.”

Keep sex starved men at bay : Men are usually sexually more charged up. But when it comes to choosing a mate, women don't opt for a sexually ravenous partner. This is maybe because for such men, sex is the top priority in the relationship whereas the woman continuously seeks love and romance, sans physical intimacy.

Expert says : Relationship and sex counsellor Dr. Geetu Bhardwaj shares, “It’s not that women are not keen to have sex with their partner, but a man’s sexual inclination does plan an important role when it comes to choosing their partner. Women generally aren’t too comfortable with the idea of being with a man who has sex on his mind throughout the day. In such relationships, things like understanding and love are secondary and sexual intimacy is all that matters for the male partner.”

Chauvinism is out completely : Remember Bobby Deol’s chauvinistic character in Dostana, which was enough to drive his lady nuts. An excess of anything is bad. Women don’t find a chauvinistic man a great companion to spend the rest of their lives with.

Expert says : Dr. Ratan Kumar, a clinical psychologist asserts, “There is a very thin line of demarcation between being a gentleman and chauvinist. A girl might love your care and concern, but your over chauvinistic attitude may irritate her at times. Make an attempt to give enough space to her and let the comfort zone be there as per mutual convenience.”

Using slangs won’t take you anywhere : Using abusive lingo every time you indulge in a conversation might lend you a cool dude look cool in front of your male peers, but girls don’t want to hang around with a abusive man. Being too abusive and stressing on using slangs too often is a ‘turn off’ for today’s women.

Expert says : Psychiatrist Dr. Anupam Randhawa states, “Men need to realise that a woman would like to be associated with a respectful and well-behaved mate. So using excess of slang language and abusive words during conversations can backfire. The reason why women keep such partners at bay is because they find it offensive when their man gets abusive as it comes as a gesture of disrespect to the relationship.”

How to solve the big style questions

It’s been a tough few months in fashion. The pickings – Goth/Neo-Goth/Punk-Goth/Elemental-Goth and Goth meets the Geldofs – have been slim. Looking on the bright side, a season where one finds little to tempt and much to make one feel 175 provides an opportunity to ponder the style issues that in more fecund times would get swept under the carpet, or at least buried beneath a tidal wave of carrier bags. Let’s call them the Great Imponderables, since coming up with solutions could while away the idle hours generously provided by this winter’s inevitable commuting delays.
Is it wrong to find yourself lusting after something an X Factor contestant wore? We all know the knee-jerk response to this. But tarry; the contestant in question was Lucie Jones, Wales’s own Avril Lavigne, and the dress was a tasteful (by X Factor standards) navy, swooshy number from BCBG. Presumably the X Factor stylists didn’t have time to muck up Lucie’s outfit that night, because there wasn’t a stud, slash or handkerchief hem in sight. She got booted out shortly after, so there may be a moral there. But I don’t mind admitting I was tempted by this dress. Fortunately, it was sold out on My-Wardrobe.com. Conclusion: keep an open mind – and move on. Also, remember, that while X Factor contestants are generally styled in a shambolic pile-up of tat, at least it’s cheap tat. Provided you aren’t tempted to mimic Dannii or Cheryl (in which case you will look ridiculous and bankrupt yourself), you have nothing to lose but your own prejudices.
Will you ever wear colour again? Not if you adhere to this winter’s catwalk diktats. Which means by the time spring/summer collections hit the rails, you will be as dazzled as a mole emerging into the Ibizan sun. My advice? Ease your way in by smuggling in a bright scarf or bag to your usual black/grey/navy routine. Avoid coloured shoes. They’re so 2004.
Are ballet pumps really over? Officially, yes. So their revival can only be minutes away.
Will you look supercilious if you don’t wear sequins this Christmas? Personally, I don’t wish to see another sequin until I come face to face with the great Mae West herself. I’m picturing myself in the chicest of slouchy, smoke-coloured silk one-shouldered Lanvin tops this party season – the kind that makes everyone else look hopelessly tinselly. Unfortunately, while I have yet to discover a decent Lanvin copy on the high street, I have found myself drawn to a pair of sequined trousers in Topshop which, worn with a white T-shirt, would have the same nonchalant effect. I think we know how this is going to play out.
If pearls are so fashionable, how come they still make you feel like Kate Middleton? You’re wearing the wrong kind. It was sweet of granny to leave you her discreet string, but sweet and discreet don’t cut it right now. Head to the high street to stock up on Freedom’s pearl, diamanté and neon ropes. Alternatively, spend a bomb at Chanel. They’ll probably look nicer. Isn’t that so often the way?

12 party beauty tips

This week, a 12-step plan to ensure you sparkle all night long

. When it comes to lips or eyes, make it an either/or situation. The combination of dark, glossy lips with heavy, vampish eyes never looks as good in real life as it does in a photo shoot, where the model is carefully lit.
2. No matter how tired you are, don’t overdo the under-eye concealer. Remember: no one has completely shadow-free eyes. Anything with an overly pink base will show up extra-bright in photographs, so to avoid the reverse panda effect go for something yellow-based, such as Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer, which has great staying power (£16; bobbibrown.co.uk).
3. Don’t wear too much perfume. Overpowering fragrance is as much of a turn-off as bad breath.
4. Clean your teeth before going out after a long day at the office. It’ll perk you up.
5. Beware red lipstick. It will look great to begin with, but as the evening progresses it will start to fade. Being highly pigmented, though, it will leave an unsightly stain on your lips, which will mean you will have to keep topping it up – and there’s nothing more off-putting than a tipsy woman with a wonky mouth and vermilion teeth.
6. Be careful about careless deodorant application as you rush to get changed; the same goes for moisturiser and any form of last-minute depilation. Just leave it. Chances are no one will notice a bit of leg stubble; they will, however, notice a shaving cut.
7. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can wear glitter just because it’s the party season. If you have even the tiniest crow’s-feet, all the glitter will migrate there, highlighting your wrinkles.
8. Apply eyeliner to your top lid, but not underneath. This will help open up the gaze and instantly make you look perkier.
9. Get your eyebrows properly shaped. A cleanly arched eyebrow is half the battle when it comes to looking groomed. Threading provides the sharpest finish, and Blink is the best for threading (blinkbrowbar.com).
10. Invest in a pair of eyelash curlers – there is no quicker way of glamming up the eye. MAC has a great pair, £12 (maccosmetics.co.uk).
11. Buy new mascara – it pays to have one that can withstand all eventualities. Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara (£14.50, left; clinique.co.uk) is virtually indestructible. It will only come off with warm water; otherwise it will stay put through heat, rain, sweat and tears.
12. Take your make-up off before your head hits the pillow, no matter how exhausted you are. A couple of minutes in front of the mirror can be soothingly sobering, and you can drink a big glass of water while you’re at it. Origins A Perfect World Cleanser (£15; origins.co.uk) is a lovely foaming wash that will gently lift off grime, and lessen your chances of coming to the following day with an unsightly spot.

Bright idea: Couple's Grand Designs-style house that can rotate to follow the sun

A couple in Australia have built a house that can rotate to follow the sun.
Luke and Debbie Everingham's home, in Wingham, New South Wales, can turn full circle thanks to a turntable upon which it is built.
The rooms of the octagonal building are designed to let in more light than average, and thanks to the property's unique shape, are also more spacious than usual.
All the rooms are attached to a central core of plumbings and electrical fittings around which the house can turn.
The mechanism is powered by two small electric engines no larger than that of a washing machine, and is controlled using a touch-screen panel in the living area.
The couple, who spent £400,000 designing and building the house, told how the idea was born when their neighbours were discussing their own new-build.
They had commented that if they could start again they would orientate the house 15 degrees to the north, to which Mrs Everingham replied: 'Wouldn't it be handy to have a house that could move?'

Mr Everingham, 47, said: 'Immediately I started to think. Weight? The average house would weigh approximately 20-30 tonnes, or about 1 tonne per square. Weight is not difficult - ancient mechanical and structural engineering.

'Shape? The conventional rectangular prism would not be suitable. After experimenting with scale drawings to investigate octagonal and circular shapes, I was pleasantly surprised. A number of preliminary designs and layouts were created.'

The property, which is 24 metres in diameter, also boasts a three-metre, 360 degree verandah.

'It's a magic place to live because you can make the most of the weather and your surroundings,' he added.

'The only problem is that you can sometimes become a bit disorientated.'

Pap Tests: Another Revision of Recommendations

Days after a government advisory panel rolled back its recommendations on mammography screening for breast cancer, another influential group issued revised guidelines on the use of Pap smears to detect cervical cancer, recommending that young women delay getting their first test.
In its new guidelines issued Friday, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that adolescent girls wait until age 21 to get their first Pap smear. The College also recommended less frequent screening for older women: every two years for women in their 20s instead of yearly, and every three years for women 30 and older. Previously, the ACOG — along with other national groups, including the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (or USPSTF, the same group that revised its mammography screening advice) — had advised girls to begin yearly Pap tests within three years of their first sexual encounter or, regardless of their sexual activity, by the time they reach 21. (Read "Mammogram Guidelines: What You Need to Know")
Citing a drop in cervical cancer rates, the ACOG is now loosening its guidelines. The group also took into account recent studies on the risks of screening. Risks include the removal of abnormal lesions found during Pap smears, which are common in young women and teens, but often go away on their own if left untreated. The procedures used to remove the lesions may be linked to long-term reproductive harms, such as premature birth, underweight babies and an increased risk of cesarean section birth. Weighing the risks, the ACOG determined that the evidence supported later, and less frequent screening. "A review of the evidence to date shows that screening at less frequent intervals prevents cervical cancer just as well, has decreased costs, and avoids unnecessary interventions that could be harmful," Dr. Alan Waxman, a physician at the University of New Mexico and head of ACOG's Committee on Practice Bulletins–Gynecology, said in a statement.
Since the 1970s, when Pap testing became a part of routine gynecological exams, the rate of cervical cancer in the U.S. has fallen more than 50% — in 1975 there were 14.8 cases per 100,000 women, and by 2006, only 6.5 per 100,000 women. But the cancer, which is primarily caused by infection with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), is rare among teens under 20. Only about 14 cases are reported each year in the U.S. in teenagers, compared with 123 cases among women ages 20 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers were low enough in young women to prompt the ACOG to push back its screening guidelines. Overall, there are 4,070 cervical-cancer deaths and 11,270 new cases each year in the United States.
The guidelines advise women between the ages of 21 and 30 to be screened once every two years for cervical cancer. In women over 30, the guidelines allow for three years between screenings, if patients have three consecutive normal Pap smears and no prior history of abnormalities. Between 65 and 70, women may stop have Pap smears altogether, if they have had three normal tests in a row and negative results over the last 10 years. However, women with HIV, previously abnormal Pap tests, or other problems that would suppress the immune system or increase the risk of aggressive cervical cancer may need more frequent screening. (Read "HPV Test Screens Best for Cervical Cancer")
Cervical cancer is slow growing — giving doctors time to find it — and studies show that among women in their 20s, the risk of developing cervical cancer does not increase by reducing the frequency of Pap tests to every two years. Although the HPV infection rate is high among sexually active teens and young adults, the virus is typically cleared by the woman's immune system within a year or two of infection. Few cases of HPV infection lead to cancer; when they do, the cancer may develop up to 10 to 20 years after exposure to the virus.
The change in Pap testing does not represent as monumental a shift as the USPSTF's new advice on mammography, since Pap testing of adolescents, while recommended, has not become as entrenched as mammography as a preventive tool. Still, both new sets of cancer screening guidelines exemplify an effort by leading medical organizations to base their advice on scientific data, rather than an assumption that more screening always leads to better prevention. "Physicians have a hard time letting go of screening tests that make them feel comfortable," says Dr. Karen Soren, director of adolescent medicine at New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. "The larger view is that screening is always good. But it's also good to reassess and take another look every once in a while."

People ‘window shopping’ for sacrificial animals

LAHORE: With only five days left before Eidul Azha, the sale of sacrificial animals has failed to gain any momentum with most people apparently only interested in‘window shopping’. According to a survey conducted by Daily Times on Sunday, most people wishing to sacrifice animals this Eid said they were only window shopping, and inquiring about the rates of animals, which were alarmingly high. Serious buyers complained about the high rates of animals. On the other hand, the salesman seemed helpless too. They said that they could not possibly lower prices bacuse inflation had made animal rearing very expensive as well. Animal feed now cost a lot more than it used to, they said. The customers therefore preferred ‘window shopping’, as it allowed them to negotiate a lower price. On Sunday, it was found that the minimum price of cows was around Rs 50,000, whereas it was Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 last year. Similarly, the minimum price of male goats with a meat weight of 12 to 14 kilogrammes was found to be at Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000. Salesmen also told Daily Times that only one in ten visitors to the animal market actually buy an animal. staff report