Like most people, Julia Fitzgerald began to pay attention to what she ate and drank only after she became ill. Ten years ago, aged 22, she suffered whiplash following a car crash.

A year later, when she was still in pain and taking medication that made it hard for her to concentrate on her work as a geophysicist, devising computer programs, she was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia (chronic muscle pain) but the only treatment she was offered was antidepressants.

"That's when I started to take an interest in my diet," she says. "Until then I hadn't been eating badly - but I wasn't getting my five fruit and veg a day. I was drinking large amounts of coffee, but not much water. And I didn't have much oily fish, which has an anti-inflammatory effect. After I became more careful about what I ate and drank, I soon found that I didn't need the painkillers."

The huge improvement in her wellbeing inspired her to retrain in nutritional therapy at the University of Westminster, a three-year degree course including 300 hours of clinical practice. Since completing it, she has been in private practice in Devon advising others on how to maximise their health. "You may not be sick now but that doesn't mean your diet isn't harming you," she says. "It could be increasing your chances of getting a range of degenerative conditions, including diabetes, dementia and cardiovascular disease. For example, boosting your calcium intake will reduce your long?term risk of osteoporosis."

In private practice she tailors diets to individuals: clients may want to lose weight, deal with irritable bowel syndrome, give themselves an edge in a sport or tackle depression - all areas in which she believes good nutrition can have an impact. She also takes group sessions at FitFarms, a residential programme that kickstarts people into a healthier way of life. "Many of those I see drink regularly because it has become part of their lives. They don't realise how much damage they are doing to their livers."

For deaths due specifically to respiratory diseases, there was an 18 percent reduction within 5 to 10 years of quitting, reaching the level found in nonsmokers after 20 years.

But while there was a 21 percent reduction in the risk of lung cancer death within five years, it took 30 years for that excess risk to disappear.

The findings are the latest to emerge from a study of more than 121,000 American women in the nursing profession whose health histories were recorded in 1976 and followed during the ensuing years. While the study involved only women, other research has found benefits for men who stop smoking.

“Our findings indicate that 64 percent of deaths in current smokers and 28 percent of deaths in past smokers are attributable to smoking,” Stacey A. Kenfield of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues wrote in the report, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

What is it?
This simple diet, created by personal trainer Harley Pasternak, is designed to last five weeks. It consists of five small meals a day, combined with 25 mins of exercise broken down into five five-minute bursts.
Pasternak created the 5-Factor diet with Hollywood actors in mind - the simple meals are designed to be rustled up on set and the short exercises can be done between takes.
You also get one cheat day every week so you can eat whatever you want!
How does it work?
Eating regularly will keep you feeling full and stave off dangerous hunger pangs. Each meal contains up to 300 calories and on top of that, you're also allowed two snacks of around 200 calories each.
The meals are made up mostly of low-fat protein, such as chicken or fish, and healthy carbohydrates, such as brown rice, beans or pulses. Olive or rapeseed oil are also allowed as these are full of essential fatty acid.
The combination of a low-calorie and low-fat diet will help you lose weight and because the exercise is broken up into little chunks, there's no excuse not to fit it into your day.

In this, the first in our series of photographs from the F.E. Chaudhry Collection, we want to feature this remarkable photograph taken on a Lahore street-side, probably in the 1950s. 
A group of four young women unabashedly sitting in a row on a road side in Lahore, picking each other’s heads for lice and so very focussed on the task at hand that they are oblivious to the passersby. The children (probably their own) squatting around and hiding in their laps, captures an age old family ritual that is no longer to be seen, even in the private, lost forever to the glamorous new world of branded soaps and shampoos.

The photograph shows F. E. Choudhry’s penchant for novel sights. The public performance of personal hygiene was not an uncommon sight, even amongst the more affluent. But usually not so for picking lice. Although it was a common practice for women (sometimes men too!) to pick head lice for each other, especially in summer, when head lice breed in great number, it was usually done in the privacy of home. This is clearly an example of poverty forcing people to “live” in the public space and conduct what would otherwise be private acts, in public. This, as we shall later see, was a recurrent theme in F.E. Choudhry’s portfolio.

The study, sponsored by the American Microbial Society and the Soap and Detergent Association, was reported at a recent conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

American market research company, Harris Interactive employed people to monitor public restrooms in Atlanta, Chicago, New York City and San Francisco. Of the 6,000 adults monitored, only 66 percent of men washed their hands after using the bathroom - down from 75 percent in a similar study conducted in 2005. Women were cleaner, with 88 percent bothering to lather up - down just 2 percent from the 2005 study.

“I agree with this study. My husband doesn’t care about his personal hygiene. For example he doesn’t put tools such as his toothbrush in a suitable place after washing his teeth. He also throws his clothes everywhere whenever he changes them,” said H.K, 26, a new housewife.

South Korea’s government has confirmed the fourth outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu in the last month.

this outbreak was found in western South Korea at a farm in Yeoungam. This is 236 miles southwest of Seoul.

The bird flu has killed around 235 people in the world since 2003.

South Korea has been hit very hard lately by the H5N1 bird flu virus. In just the last month, there have been four different outbreaks confirmed.

This comes after South Korea went for a full year without having any outbreaks of the bird flu.

They have already slaughtered over 1 million chickens to try and control the bird flu outbreaks. They are working hard to control the spread of the virus.

Opinion #1. French Manicures are passé
French Manicures are definitely passé. They used to be done to make believe that the nail plate was longer and used to create an illusion. To me, they are not elegant at all. The most elegant is the short, clean and natural nail plate. Use a shape that is natural to your finger - not overly square or too rounded. The only reason I would ever recommend a French manicure is a form of treatment for people with extremely short nails….a form of make-up so to speak to make them look longer.

Opinion #2. Most French Manicures Look Fake and Tacky
A French manicure can look polished and classic if done well using an ivory or off white tip, dubbed the American Manicure. The problem is that most French manicures I see look fake and tacky because they have a stark white tip and are usually done on thick poorly executed acrylic nails. Besides there is such an incredible color range of polish on the market, why not have a little fun with your nails?

Opinion #3. Black Nails are the New French Manicure
They are so Cathy Lee “Over!” Why? Because the French really had nothing to do with that… Second, one of the top editors of a major fashion mag here in NY told me so…Black nails are the new French manicure.
That said, there is a whole group of women that still LOVE the French and can’t let go, so if you must, make sure you don’t get French on the same day you wear a David Cassidy hair cut and highwaisted Jordache Jeans. A ton of people will agree that a French still looks pretty good…but one bit of advice - STOP wearing it on your feet!
Here’s some good news: wear what you like and what works for you. If you like it and wear it with confidence, who cares…

Opinion #4. French Manicures Have Stood the Test of Time
French manicures are considered the “sexy woman’s red” or perfect for the “classic, sporty soccer mom.” They have stood the test of time and have become a standby for many special occasions for women, although it’s important to note that not every woman can sport the French manicure! If someone is a nail biter or has short chubby fingers, a French manicure will only enhance these flaws. If this is the case, it is then best to go with the color of the season, and this season colors are so rich and pigmented that they are hard to resist.

To brush the skin: Start at the soles of the feet and work your way up your legs, your front and your back, brushing as vigorously as you feel able. Then do your hands and up your arms. Focus the brush strokes, when doing your chest and upper back, towards your heart. Don't do your face, but give the back of your neck and your scalp a good go. For hygiene reasons you need a separate brush for each member of the family, and of course, you need to wash the brush itself every couple of weeks.

The testing equipment will give CPSC staff additional tools to evaluate products for safety. The equipment includes:

* Infant Suffocation Model - A mannequin that replicates in many ways a living, breathing infant. It can be used to help evaluate suffocation hazards.

* Virtual Child - A three-dimensional computerized model that uses digital images to simulate and identify potential obstructions to a child's airway.

* Simulated Baby Jaw - Can help CPSC technical staff determine if a toy or other product is likely to come apart as a result of biting and tearing and pose a choking danger.

* Strangulation Tester - Can help determine if a product poses a strangulation risk by measuring the forces exerted by a toy or children's product on the neck.

* Bio-mechanical Model - Can replicate a child's pulling forces to test whether a product is likely to come apart in the hands of a child.

The equipment displayed today tests for dangers that pose the greatest risk to children - especially those under three years old. The CPSC and McDonald's are discussing sharing other safety evaluation equipment in the future, including a flammability and eye impact apparatus for evaluating products that present fire and eye injury hazards.

Whether with a fresh buzz or using heat from a hair dryer, they're sure to make you shine.

Wahl has been keeping things clipped for decades.

“This is our new self-cut haircutting kit,” Patrick Anello with Wahl Clipper Corp. said.

It’s designed especially for men who want to cut their own hair.

“It’s ergonomically designed. It can be held in the left hand or the right hand and can do both sides of the head conveniently without having to turn your wrist,” he said.

It uses a conventional clipper blade so it’s a cutting process that men are familiar with.