The Street Articles

Cellulite is lumpy, dimpled flesh that most often develops on the thighs, hips and buttocks. Cellulite forms just below the skin when fibrous connective cords that tether the skin to the underlying muscle break, stretch or pull down, while fat cells accumulate and push up against the skin. The reason some people develop cellulite and others do not isn’t clear. Women are much more likely than men to have cellulite, and it tends to run in families, so genetics may play a role. Cellulite is more common in people who are overweight and in older adults. It doesn’t pose any health risks, and it doesn’t need to be treated. But if the appearance of cellulite bothers you, there are a few therapies that may help. A procedure that doesn’t involve surgery called cryolipolysis has been approved by the US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the appearance of cellulite. It uses cold therapy to freeze the lipids in fat cells, causing the cells to die. Not everyone sees benefits fro

Yes, it is possible to reverse diabetes. All it requires is a structured nutrition plan, sufficient exercise and proper support. Sounds simple enough, and indeed, this is what any doctor worth their salt will be advising their diabetic patients to do. Says consultant endocrinologist Dr Zanariah Hussein: “Diabetes type 2 is a progressive disease where the blood glucose keeps climbing up with time. “So, to combat this, doctors need to impart advice on diet, physical activity, as well as medication. “And we realise that the need for all this increases as the duration of the disease increases – the need for intervention, the need for medication goes up.” Associate Professor Dr Osama Hamdy, who is the Obesity Clinical Program medical director for the Joslin Diabetes Centre in the United States, explains why. “You’d be surprised that only a few kilograms of weight gain can create the entire problem if that person has the genes and the family history for diabetes,” he says. O

Most people don’t really want to ‘learn’ to play the piano or ‘practice’ the piano, they just want to ‘play’ piano. ‘Play’ sounds like fun, ‘practice’ sounds like a chore. We get this image from childhood – some kid stuck indoors ‘practicing’ scales while all the other kids are outside the window ‘playing’. So, first thing we need to do is to see our piano practice in a new light. See it as a way of accelerating the learning process so that SOON you’ll be able to ‘play’ piano and play it well. If you don’t practice and you just play old familiar tunes you move rather slowly. Yes, you’ll get better at playing those old familiar tunes but technically you won’t be pushing yourself to greater heights. Proper, structured piano practice helps you stride forwards. I say ‘proper’ because a lot of people have an idea that practice IS just playing songs over and over. Practice needs to involve unchartered territory. The golden rule is – ‘practice what you CAN’T play, not what you CAN pla

I’ll never forget the day my back pain started… I was only 15 years old and was playing basketball when I took a nasty fall and injured my spine. Actually, I broke a small bone on one of my vertebrae. From that point on, back pain was a constant part of my life. To someone who’s never suffered with chronic and debilitating back pain, it’s hard to explain just how awful the feeling is. To wake up, every single day of your life and never have the opportunity to really feel good… well, it’s really something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. And yet, thousands and thousands of people endure pain like this day in and day out. For them, there’s no escaping it no matter what they try. I was one of those people, for many years. In an effort to find relief for my pain, I tried just about every available therapy and treatment there is. I tried massage therapy, pain medicine, acupuncture, ultra sound, electric stimulation, the “sheets of exercises,” yoga, chiropractic, pilates, a