Category Archives: Life & Style

Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past

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The past few years have witnessed a revolution in our ability to obtain DNA from ancient humans. This important new data has added to our knowledge from archaeology and anthropology, helped resolve long-existing controversies, challenged long-held views, and thrown up remarkable surprises. The emerging picture is one of many waves of ancient human migrations, so that all populations living today are mixes of ancient ones, and often carry a genetic component from archaic humans. David Reich, whose team has been at the forefront of these discoveries, explains what genetics is telling us about ourselves and our complex and often surprising ancestry. Gone are old ideas of any kind of racial âpurity.' Instead, we are finding a rich variety of mixtures. Reich describes the cutting-edge findings from the past few years, and also considers the sensitivities involved in tracing ancestry, with science sometimes jostling with politics and tradition. He brings an important wider message: that we should recognize that every one of us is the result of a long history of migration and intermixing of ancient peoples, which we carry as ghosts in our DNA. What will we discover next?

This is a fascinating and well researched book. An Amazon No 1 Bestseller and it is easy to see why. 

The past few years have witnessed a revolution in our ability to obtain DNA from ancient humans. This important new data has added to our knowledge from archaeology and anthropology, helped resolve long-existing controversies, challenged long-held views, and thrown up remarkable surprises.

The emerging picture is one of many waves of ancient human migrations, so that all populations living today are mixes of ancient ones, and often carry a genetic component from archaic humans. David Reich, whose team has been at the forefront of these discoveries, explains what genetics is telling us about ourselves and our complex and often surprising ancestry. Gone are old ideas of any kind of racial âpurity.’ Instead, we are finding a rich variety of mixtures. Reich describes the
cutting-edge findings from the past few years, and also considers the sensitivities involved in tracing ancestry, with science sometimes jostling with politics and tradition. He brings an important wider message: that we should recognize that every one of us is the result of a long history of migration and
intermixing of ancient peoples, which we carry as ghosts in our DNA.

What will we discover next?

Available here.

Common Breastfeeding Problems

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breastfeeding, benefits of breastfeeding, mum, baby, what age to stop breastfeedingDr Emma-Jane Down offers insight into common breastfeeding woes…

Why people say ‘breast is best’

Breast milk is regarded as nature’s natural food for your baby and it’s certainly full of essential nutrients.

According to Unicef, research has shown that breastfeeding provides babies with various health benefits, including essential nutrients that offer protection from infections and diseases.

Plus, women who breastfeed have a lower risk of developing cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer.

Breastfeeding for beginners 

Since 2003, the Department of Health has recommended that women should ideally feed their baby with breast milk for the first six months of an infant’s life, before introducing any other food or drink.

But like any skill, learning to breastfeed can be difficult to start with, and some women can be affected by health issues during feeding.

If you’re finding it difficult or painful to breastfeed, be assured that you are not the only one to feel this way. “It’s important to ask for help if you aren’t finding it easy or comfortable,” advises GP at AXA PPP healthcare, Dr Emma-Jane Down. “It does get easier.”

Breastfeeding health conditions

Sometimes health conditions can occur during breastfeeding, creating difficulties for mum and baby. These include issues such as blocked milk ducts, mastitis, abscesses and thrush.

Blocked milk duct

“Occasionally a blocked milk duct can occur, causing a swollen, red area on the breast,” explains Dr Down.

Mastitis 

Mastitis occurs when a blocked milk duct doesn’t settle after one to two days, making the breast infected. “It will become red, hard, painful and swollen, and you may develop a fever and feel very unwell. You need antibiotics to clear this up, along with continuing to feed from that breast to clear the blockage,” advises Dr Down.

Breast abscess

“A breast abscess is another rarer complication causing a red painful, hard lump.” This contains a collection of pus and needs draining quickly by a doctor, along with a course of antibiotics.

Thrush

Breast thrush causes severe nipple or breast pain and can be spread from mum to infant. “Thrush is treated with prescribed anti-fungal medications, usually cream for the mother and drops or gel for the baby’s mouth,” explained a spokesperson for Unicef. Painkillers may be required too to help ease pain.

How to make breastfeeding comfortable

Breastfeeding can be an important way of bonding with your baby. The skin-to-skin contact helps comfort your baby and the more you feed, the more milk you produce. So it’s worth persevering with it, even if it doesn’t feel comfortable at first.

Some of the issues that can contribute to making breastfeeding difficult, suggests Dr Down, include not latching on properly, timed or scheduled feeding and the overuse of pacifiers and dummies.

“Latching on and getting into the correct position for mum and baby is key,” she says. “This helps prevent sore nipples and blocked milk ducts.”

Tips to make breastfeeding go more smoothly

To help breastfeeding go more smoothly, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) suggests these tips:

.       Sit comfortably before you start feeding. Make sure you relax your arms and shoulders.

.       Make sure your baby’s head and body are in a straight line. This will help them swallow more easily.

.       Position your baby’s nose level with your nipple, so they can reach up and attach easily to your breast.

.       Ensure your baby’s neck, shoulders and back are well supported.

If your baby needs encouragement to feed, try stroking their top lip to encourage them to open their mouth wide.

“If your baby is difficult to feed or seems unhappy, then do ask for help,” emphasise the NCT.

Feeding with formula

If breastfeeding doesn’t work for you and your baby, then the next best step is formula feeding.

“No mother should be made to feel ashamed or guilty for using formula,” believes Dr Down.

“It may not be quite as good for your baby as breast milk, but is a safe alternative if you’re not able to breastfeed the baby,” she says. “A happy mum makes a happy baby, so sometimes you have to do what is best for you too.”

Tips on making up formula milk 

When you’re making up formula milk, Dr Down advises:

.       Follow the instructions carefully.

.       Don’t change the ratio of powder to water, as it’s not safe.

.       Always carefully wash and sterilise bottles to avoid dangerous vomiting or diarrhoea bugs – they can quickly grow in formula milk that’s left hanging around in unsterilised bottles.

 

If you have any concerns or worries about feeding your baby, then do speak to your GP, midwife or health visitor for advice and support.

 

 

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: What Everyone Needs to Know

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alzheimer's, dementia, booksAlzheimer’s is swiftly on the rise: it is estimated that every 67 seconds, someone develops the disease. For many, the words ‘Alzheimer’s disease’ or ‘dementia’ immediately denote severe mental loss and, perhaps, madness. Indeed, the vast majority of media coverage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other types of dementia focuses primarily on the losses experienced by people diagnosed and the terrible burden felt by care partners yearning for a “magic bullet” drug cure.
Providing an accessible, question-and-answer-format primer on what touches so many lives, and yet so few of us understand, Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: What Everyone Needs to Know®contributes what is urgently missing from public knowledge: unsparing investigation of their causes and manifestations, and focus on the strengths possessed by people diagnosed. Steven R. Sabat mines a large body of research to convey the genetic and biological aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, its clinical history, and, most significantly, to reveal the subjective experience of those with Alzheimer’s or dementia. By clarifying the terms surrounding dementia and Alzheimer’s, which are two distinct conditions, Sabat corrects dangerous misconceptions that plague our understanding of memory dysfunction. People diagnosed with AD retain awareness, thinking ability, and sense of self; crucially, Sabat demonstrates that there are ways to facilitate communication even when the person with AD has great difficulty finding the words he or she wants to use. From years spent exploring and observing the points of view and experiences of people diagnosed, Sabat strives to inform as well as to remind readers of the respect and empathy owed to those diagnosed and living with dementia.


Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia conveys this type of information and more, which, when applied by family and professional caregivers, will help improve the quality of life of those diagnosed as well as of those who provide support and care.

This is an important book. It is well-researched and well-written. Essential reading. 

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: What Everyone Needs to Know is available here,

 

 

Traveling Family: Effective Ways to Make a Trip More Fun

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Traveling with the whole family can be a practice of patience and creativity, especially for parents traveling with small children. It’s very tempting to hand over an iPad or another type of screen to keep the little ones quiet and entertained, especially in instances where you don’t want them to bother other passengers. However, with a little planning, you can minimize screen time and make the trip more fun for the entire family. Start with understanding when your children are at their “travel best” and, if possible, plan the roughest parts of the trip around these times.

Flying red eye with young children is often needlessly stressful. Instead, choose travel times when they’re less likely to have a melt down and when you have the best odds of not being in a travel rush. Ensure their blood sugar levels are as steady as possible to lessen the odds of hyperactivity or irritability caused by hunger. Not only will this make travel easier and more comfortable for them, but also for you and fellow passengers.

Planning a road trip with the family? It all begins with preventative maintenance and seeing your mechanic regularly. Knowing you have a vehicle that’s safe and in top working order sets the mood for the entire vacation. In some circumstances, you may want to rent a vehicle instead of using your own. You know it’s well-maintained, and you don’t need to worry about keeping it pristine. You may be able to get more space with a bigger vehicle, options like a bike rack for truck bed, and the roadside service might be better than what you have with your own vehicle.

No matter what kind of trip you have coming up, here are some effective ways to make the journey more fun:

  • Come up with travel games before you’re en route. These will change based on your children’s ages, but it’s a great opportunity to share some of your favorite old-fashioned games with them. Before we had the option to have screens everywhere we go, we got creative. From the license plate game to I-spy, the options are limitless. Model good behavior and put your own screens away. Have everyone agree to certain no-screen times during the trip (or the entire trip if you’re really committed).
  • Have the car detailed and filled with gas the day before you leave. If you’re embarking on a road trip, you don’t want to delay the fun by cleaning and stopping at the gas station the day of the trip. Instead, take care of this task the day before so you can set off as soon as everything is packed up.
  • Keep healthy snacks readily available. Part of traveling might be indulging in special treats along the way, but this can be expensive—and cause blood sugar swings. Instead, make sure you have treats and snacks everyone likes available, but featuring items that will help regular moods. Stay away from added sugars and caffeine. When you do stop, if you have kids that crave junk food, avoid stops where it’s readily available. Instead, research local restaurants ahead of time that offer kid-friendly, but healthy, items.
  • Make sure everyone has adequate sleep the day before. When you’re excited about a trip, it can be tough to sleep. However, this will make for a miserable first day of travel. Natural sleep aids and good sleep hygiene the night before a trip is important for everyone.
  • Give yourself some extra time. Whether it’s calculating how many miles you can log in a day or putting together an itinerary of attractions and destinations, traveling with the whole family always leads to some snags. Plan for these. Give yourself extra time, and when booking airline tickets make sure the connections aren’t too tight. A missed leg of a flight can ruin an entire trip, especially for children.

As you gear up for vacation season, remember that it’s just as important to plan for fun as it is logistics. You’re showing your children the best practices for vacation planning, and they’ll follow your example. Make it fun, be prepared, and encourage everyone to go with the flow when necessary.

 

By Trevor McDonald.

The Empowered Mama

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the empowered mama, parenting, motherhoodThe Empowered Mama

The Empowered Mama is a practical and interactive workbook full of simple, powerful tools to help moms reconnect with themselves on the journey through motherhood.

Moms often try to juggle the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker while also being professional, competent woman. Many moms feel like they can’t take time to replenish their bodies and minds despite their many roles. There’s just not enough time in the day, and it seems selfish to take time when families and work still demand more.

The Empowered Mama is a practical workbook full of simple, powerful tools to help you reconnect with yourself on the journey through motherhood. Author Lisa Druxman uplifts, inspires, and takes moms on a journey not just to rediscover themselves, but to fall in love with motherhood again. Whether you are a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, this book will add balance to your life.

Since there will never be more hours in the day, The Empowered Mama will help you maximize the hours you do have to accomplish what matters most. This guide focuses on all parts of a mom’s life — work relationships, built-up stressors, cleaning up your diet, even going green and being more mindful about the environment — all with the intuitive understanding that getting the rest of your life in order will only reap huge dividends for your family.

I really loved this interactive book. It was impossible to not be inspired. I found myself nodding along as I read, happy that it was not just me, or feeling enlightened by the shared experience. Particularly in the part that explained why you still feel like crap after having a baby: baby sling wearing, tiredness, pushing a pram, sore muscles…. The Empowered Mama is full of quotes, exercises and information to make you the best you can be. It is easy to neglect yourself when you are a mother and anything that makes you focus on yourself is to be applauded. This book makes you the best you. Brilliant stuff.

The Empowered Mama is available here. 

 

Frost Loves: Hape Happy Hour Clock | Toy Reviews

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Frost loves this amazing clock toy from Hape. It helps children to count and tell the time. Fun and educational: this is a brilliant toy. 

What time is it? Here Hape is introducing the Happy Hour Clock to help. Time telling is an essential skill for both adults and children. Why not have fun while learning about time and numbers.

This Happy Hour Clock is colour and educational, perfect for children aged 3 years and older. The Clock consists of 13 pieces. Sticking with a restricted colour range of 4 colours, red, blue, yellow and green, the toy is not overwhelming and keeps the entertainment of learning. The Clock has a big smiley face and easy portable pieces that children can take out of the base. Get involved and watch child grow in confidence as they develop new skills.

The Happy Hour Clock help teaches time, like hours and minutes along side learning about numbers and colours. With the movable clock hands help your child understand the differences with hours, minutes, o’clock and half past. Developing their recognition skills and differentiation skills.

Learning about time is essential because it will help the children understand planning and arranging things. Also, time keeping, and management is an excellent skill to have, no what matter how old.

Hape keeps a high standard and quality of toys using natural, durable and sustainable materials. The Happy Hour Clock consists of Wood and Water-Based Paint. This clock is eco-friendly and safe for your kids to use thanks to Hape’s absent use of harmful chemicals. Doing regular safety and quality checks, Hape is a company that parents can trust. Hape’s goal is to make sure their toys are both fun and learning experience, to inspire children through play and learning. These toys put no barriers in your child’s learning and developing experience. Promoting social, emotional, sensory and physical skills.

See your child’s knowledge grow as they play with the Hape Happy Hour Clock. Understanding how to read time. Practising their new skill and learn to think independently.​​

The Hape Happy Hour Clock has dimensions (LWH) of 30 x 30 x 3.6 cm and cost is £13.99 from Amazon.co.uk

Four Mums In a Boat Book Review

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Four Mums in a Boat: Friends who rowed 3000 miles, broke a world record and learnt a lot about life along the way

The incredible true story of four ordinary working mums from Yorkshire who took on an extraordinary challenge and broke a world record along the way.

Janette, Frances, Helen and Niki, though all from Yorkshire, were four very different women, all juggling full time jobs alongside being mothers to each of their 2 children. They could never be described as athletes, but they were determined to be busy and the local Saturday morning rowing club was the perfect place to go to have a laugh and a gossip, get the blood pumping in the open air, and feel invigorated.

Brought together by their love of rowing, they quickly became firm friends, and it wasn’t long before they cooked up a crazy idea over a few glasses of wine: together, they were going to do something that fewer people than had gone into space or climbed Everest had succeeded in doing. They were going to cross 3,000 miles of treacherous ocean in the toughest row in the world, The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Yes, they had children and husbands that they would be leaving behind for two months, yes they had businesses to run, mortgages to pay, responsibilities. And there was that little thing of them all being in their 40s and 50s.

But two years of planning, preparation, fundraising, training and difficult conversations later, and they found themselves standing on the edge of the San Sebastian harbour in the Canary Islands, petrified, exhilarated and ready to head up the race of their lives.

This is the story of how four friends together had the audacity to go on a wild, terrifying and beautiful adventure, not to escape life, but for life not to escape them.

Frost really loved this amazing story of courage and resilience. It is also a must read for mothers who too often put their life on hold and never put themselves first. Nothing in life comes easy but it is possible to have children and live your life to the full. 

 

Available from amazon.co.uk

Repetitive Strain Injury – Can the Handshake Mouse Help? by Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Modern living and using computers 24/7 is causing an increasing problem with repetitive strain injury (RSI) in the arms and wrists. It is due to repetitive activities (the clue is in the name) and can cause pain and tenderness, with or without tingling, numbness and weakness.

It is important, and indeed a legal requirement, to have your work-station checked, so that your posture at the computer is as good as possible. However the type of computer mouse we use can also make a difference.

BakkerElkhuizen take RSI seriously and have developed different mouse designs, which aim to keep the arm and wrist in a more natural position.

They asked me to road-test a Handshake Mouse, which has a ‘vertical grip’. This means that your hand and wrist is positioned as if you were shaking somebody’s hand (see the diagram).

 

 

Consequently the wrist doesn’t bend sideways as much and the lower arm needs less inward rotation. This reduces the amount of muscle activity required to use it, when compared to using a standard mouse. Thus you can have all of the speed of a mouse (compared to trackballs or touchpads) but without the pain.

The Handshake Mouse has two buttons and a scroll wheel. It also has a powerful laser sensor and the option to choose between 400/1600/3200 DPI (gosh). It’s available as wireless or corded.  It works with Windows Vista, 7,8, 10, and OS X operating systems. It is intended for small/medium-sized hands (their Evoluent model is better for large hands)

The benefits of these vertical mice was demonstrated in 16 volunteers (See Further Information) and other studies, and, with correct training, can reduce the risk factors for RSI.

I have to say, the sample I tested was extremely light and comfortable. and I think I heard my wrist whispering ‘Thank you’.  The buttons were positioned so I didn’t need to move my finger to use them and they required very little pressure. Overall a very comfortable experience.

I don’t see us using computers less over time, so it is well worth doing what we can to reduce risk of RSI, and at around £62, probably money well-spent.

 

 By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co,uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice

Further Information:

  1. Biomechanics and performance when using a standard and a vertical computer mouse P Quemelo & E Ramos Viera Ergonomics, Vol 56, 2013, Issue 8

 

  1. Upper limb disorders in the workplace